Untraveled Road
by Supernatural Crossover Girl
Summary: Masumi just wanted to keep her head down. She had no interest in changing the story, and being a detective was her way out. But when she ended up on the case for missing kids, plus with Naruto clinging to her like a burr, and being named the guardian of a certain Uchiha? She might have no other choice. SI OC
1. Prolouge

Title: Untraveled Road

Summary: Masumi just wanted to keep her head down. She had no interest in changing the story, and being a detective was her way out. But when she ended up on the case for missing kids, plus with Naruto clinging to her like a burr, she might have no other choice. SI OC

* * *

There isn't just a handful of ninja clans in Konoha. Oh sure, they're the more common ones whispered, Uchiha and Hyuuga often regarded as gods among shinobi at times. Inuzuka, Nara, Yamanaka… there are so many clans lorded above the others.

However, there are still others. Take the Haruno clan, a clan mostly made up of civilians, but a clan with a history of shinobi deep in their blood.

Then there are the civilian clans. Merchants, farmers, woodworkers. A village wasn't just ninja after all. They may have been the attackers, but the civilians were the true root of strength.

Without farmers, how would they eat? Without merchants, how would they get money? Without blacksmiths and woodworkers, where would they get their weapons? Who would build their houses?

Ninja weren't trained for that. Civilians were. Some ninja tried to learn it, to cut out the middle man, but never could keep it up to supply to demand.

After all, even the civilian clans in a ninja village had their secrets.

Take the Chano clan for instance. Once, a subordinate clan to the Uchihas, now their own free clan after Konoha was founded. One of the first three civilian clans in Konoha.

Almost every single teahouse or teashop was owned by the Chano clan. They were also the greatest producers of poison in Konoha, their skill with herbs that stem from their tea creation making them ideal for the job.

Yet still, they were a civilian clan. Or at least they were known as one. The truth was that the Chano clan was double ranked as a shinobi and civilian clan. It wasn't a secret- the files were public record after all. It was just that no one asked.

Most of the clan in the know found it hilarious.

The true history of the Chano clan was not what most assumed. Were they rather obsessed with tea?

Yes, yes they were. Ask the Iwa ninja who had insulted it upon learning his opponent in the chunnin exams was from the clan.

She broke his arm in five different places, dislocated his jaw and tore off his left toe. She also had muttered to him the entire time.

He has so far refused any mission that could put him in contact with Konoha. And he has studied every single tea ceremony possible, shuddering if anyone gets ones wrong.

Were they rather snobbish? Some of them were, but those were the ones who mostly rang the high end teahouses. They had to be. When so called noble civilians came in, it was better to be a snob then anything else.

The true history was a rather interesting one. There had been no recordings of a Chano clan during the Warring Times. There had been recordings of a Dokuwara clan, a clan that could make their own chakra into poison. They had suddenly disappeared one day.

A few days later, the Uchiha clan welcomed the Chano clan as their underlings.

But just because they changed a name, didn't mean they lost their bloodline.

They just didn't use it much. Most Chano ninjas were infiltrators and assassins. When you could change your own chakra into poison, it was easy to kill someone. A simple tap on the shoulder, and a day later, a dead body.

It was just that it wasn't worth learning the larger range abilities. They were too dangerous. So, they had joined up with a clan that were front line fighters, and slipped into shadow.

But, this story isn't about that. This story is about the second daughter to Chano Alei, head of the Chano clan.

Chano Masumi was born three minutes after Chano Hama. Their father had been listed as Chano Kuzuo. They were the grandchildren of Chano Kaede, the last _Dokuon'na_. Their grandfather was written as Chano Soji.

The Chano clan had a tradition of having the second daughter of a head become a ninja. The only one who had challenged this was Kaede, who had become a kunoichi instead of her younger sister to protect her. Chano Hana, later renamed to Chano Hachi to continue with naming traditions, had been a good head… but not the one needed, which was why she had named her niece heir instead of her daughter.

Not many knew about this unspoken tradition, unless part of the Chano clan. After all, the head mostly only had one daughter. But at times, it did happen.

The reason that the second daughter was to join the ninja forces was that they were to activate their bloodline and become the _Dokuon'na_ of Konoha, a titled only the Chano clan could ever hold. It was their agreement with the Senju when they broke away from the Uchiha.

Their bloodline though was violate. Able to turn it into poison, an activated _Poizunsouru_ could kill the user. It attacked the hosts system, wreaking havoc on their bodies.

The survivors always had issues. Kaede was unable to read or write after she activated it. Her academy sensei had been informed, and had given her the tests verbally. The Hokage knew, as did her closest comrades.

Chano Airi had lost the ability to speak. And Chano Ayame- the second daughter to the first head of the Chano clan after they settled in Konoha- had lost all feeling in her body. Her child had to be delivered by c-section.

And she had died because she hadn't realized she was bleeding out while she fought alongside the First Hokage.

When Chano Masumi was told she would activate the _Poizunsouru,_ she had been terrified, but determined.

As she sat in the middle of the training yard, and focused, she was unaware of the change that would occur. As she felt her grandmother place her hands on her shoulders, she only felt terrified anticipation.

And then she felt pain, pain screaming through her body as her chakra was changed, the poison burning in her veins as she screamed to the heavens, her brain rattling.

And…

 _"_ _Come on Tori!" laughed a young man knocking into a young woman, who was drinking a beer in the corner, dressed up as a steampunk pilot. "Live a little."_

 _"_ _Nice Kakashi costume." Is the only dry answer._

…the…

 _"_ _No, you don't understand Jacob!" she screamed at a man a few years older then her. "I'm done. I've looked the other way, but this… this is to fucking far!"_

 _"_ _It's just a little-"_

 _"_ _A little pot you sell? Yeah, that's a two fucking years in jail dickhead. And I know about the fucking meth dipshit! Now get the fuck out of my apartment!"_

…seal…

 _"_ _Smile for the camera!" a blonde woman laughed as she took pictures of a tiny girl, smiling at the camera as she blew out candles on her mermaid cake._

…on her…

 _"_ _Hey, Tori!" A red head smiled as she stood in front of the woman. "We've been dating a while…"_

 _"_ _Two years." Agreed the other woman, smiling. The redhead grinned, and dropped to one knee. Tori took a step back, eyes wide, as a ring box was pulled out._

 _"_ _Then, marry me?"_

…soul…

 _She ran down the hall of the prison, as the alarms blared. A riot was starting, and she needed to get to safety._

 _An offender managed to get through the security doors and she cursed, yanking out her baton and holding it in front of her. She stood there, eyes trained on him._

 _She didn't notice the offender behind her, moving around to wrap a cord around her neck, and yanking. She shoved her elbow back, but he dodged. She was forced to look up into eyes she remembered._

 _"_ _Hey Tori, remember me?" laughed the man._

 _"_ _Jacob-" she began but he jerked his grip and her neck snapped._

… ** _broke._**

* * *

Hey guys, hope you liked this intro!

The basic idea is that the poisonous chakra destroyed what was keeping her old memories locked up. When I created the Chano clan, I was messing around and wanted a clan that really liked tea. I also had half-thought out blue prints for a clan with poison chakra. So I combined them. And then, when I was making a self-insert I went: Hmmmm, why the hell not?

 _Dokuon'na:_ Poison woman. A title held by the Chano clan since the creation of Konoha.

 _Poizunsouru:_ Poison Touch. The bloodline of the Chano clan.

Any questions about the Chano clan? Ask and I will answer. Probably at the end of each chapter.

Review! And Happy Holidays!


	2. Chapter 1

Title: Untraveled Road

Summary: Masumi just wanted to keep her head down. She had no interest in changing the story, and being a detective was her way out. But when she ended up on the case for missing kids, plus with Naruto clinging to her like a burr, she might have no other choice. SI OC

* * *

Chano Alei is a classic beauty. She is pale, with dark black hair and dark eyes. She wears make-up daintily on her face. She is beautiful.

She is also a dangerous woman, for all she has never been a ninja. Most Chano woman are.

"My daughter lies in a coma, okaa-san." She tells her mother, who snorts at her daughter.

If Alei is a beauty, then Chano Kaede is three times that. A woman with strands of silver in her hair, she still has a beautiful smile and a sharp look to her black eyes. She has the grace of a shinobi in their prime and had the curves of a woman half her age.

"So did I when I first activated our blood. If Masumi does not wake up in a week… well, then we'll worry." Kaede says. To most, she would sound unconcerned. To Alei, who has grown with this woman, knows the real truth. Her eyes are tight at the corners, her movements just a bit sharper then normal. "We can call a Yamanaka-"

"No." Alei says firmly, as her eldest daughter comes in. Hama takes after her grandmother. Black hair, black eyes. Her features come from her father- harsh cheekbones and a pointed nose.

Masumi, lying on a futon, dead to the world, takes after her mother. Black hair, dark brown eyes. Her features are a bit softer than her sister's, a little more gentle in her eyes as well.

"It might come to that." Kaede says, but does not press, instead, she turns to Hama, who is dressed in a green dress, forsaking the typical kimono. "Ah, my pretty. What's wrong?"

"Hachi says Masumi won't wake up." Hama wasn't a child to cry much, but she does shed a tear as she cuddles with her grandmother, watching her sister closely. "She says she's going to die." Alei sighs as Kaede scowls.

"I'll talk to Wakaba." Again is the unspoken words.

Wakaba never got over being passed over for her cousin. Her own mother picked Alei over her to head the clan. It made sense if one knew the inner workings of the Chano clan, but Wakaba had always just been a little too stubborn to listen.

"Better, or I'm poisoning her." Kaede grumbles to herself, as she stands, wincing as she holds her granddaughter.

Her leg had never been the same after her infiltration into Ame. She'd been lucky the Sannin- though they hadn't been the Sannin then- had managed to distract Hanzo enough for her to run.

She owed them, even if she'd helped her daughter hide a secret from two of them for years. Or she liked to make herself believe they didn't suspect. They probably did.

"Come on Hama, let's go make some tea." Kaede says, and Hama perks up as Alei stands and follows them, to go chew out her cousin for being foolish. It's already bad enough she broke tradition and named her daughter Hachi.

-0-

Masumi isn't sure what is real and what isn't when she wakes up, eyes red and a scream in her throat. It takes her a minute, and then she covers her face in horror.

It can't be real, what she saw. It has to be some delusion brought on by the _poizunsouru._ It has to be. It can't be.

She can accept reincarnation, but not… not this!

"Fuck!" she growls, and then pales, realizing she would never say that.

It seemed she was being affected more than she thought.

The door opens, revealing her older sister, who stares in shock at Masumi.

"Imouto!" Hama cries out, dropping to her knees, and hugs her sister, who hugs back on reflex. "Are you okay? What happened?!"

"I… I…"

"Hama." A familiar voice says, and Kaede comes in, looking firm. "Leave us, now." The girl obeyed, and left the room as Kaede sat down. "You had us worried."

"Sorry," Masumi mutters, eyes closed now. "I… I… I don't know what to say."

"Hmm… did you have a vision?" Kaede asks, not a doting grandmother, but a stern matron, searching for answers. Masumi doesn't answer, instead simply she does not move. "Do you have memories not your own?"

"…Yes." Kaede nods.

"Ah." She'd hoped for something else. It was rare, but it had happened in clan history, the seal between a past life's memories breaking. It could drive the user into madness as well.

She can only hope this will not happen to Masumi.

"Chano Kama was the same. Her past life was of a woman name Elric Trisha, who had died of a disease." Kaede tells her granddaughter, who jerks in shock. "She unlocked another set of memories after accessing stage two of the _poizunsouro._ "

"…What happened?"

"…She killed herself." Kaede answers plainly, her voice not wavering. "We can call a Yamanaka to help you with your memories." She offers, but Masumi shakes her head.

"No… I… she… Tori's memories are easy enough to ignore." _Wire around the throat, yanking back, crack._ "…More or less."

"Very well. I will go speak to your mother." Kaede turns into a grandmother and hugs Masumi tightly. "I am glad you did not die, my little leaf." She leaves, Masumi laying down as memories trickle in.

Tori… Tori had been a rather plain person. She had a rough childhood, almost couldn't handle it, until she turned to escape plans. Video games, writing… manga.

One such one was the one her mind focused on. Naruto, taking place in Konohagakure. Her home.

…Damnit, it couldn't be real! Fuck, fuck, fuck… why was she swearing?!

All Masumi could do was cry, as she faced a possible future.

And all she could do was deny.

-0-

 _Eighteen years later…_

Chano Hama has a schedule. She gets up at five for a light stretching workout, followed by meditation. After that, she would shower quickly before having a light breakfast at seven. After that, she heads to the tea shops for a quick inspection. At one she would have a nice lunch, followed by an afternoon of tea, poison and seal experimentation.

At five, she has supper and then she would finish her day off with a visit to the hot springs or a nice long read.

Was it smart to have everything so routine? Probably not, but Hama isn't just any old civilian. As the heiress of the Chano clan- and future head- Hama was trained in a handful of shinobi arts. Not enough to be a shinobi, but enough to hold a fighter off.

Plus there was her seal work. Hama, under the pseudonym Tanka Yuki was a certified seal mistress.

It did run in her blood though that wasn't discussed much.

Hama could and had fought off people who tried to take advantage of her routine- one of which was to her endless amusment a poisoning attempt. Mutterings tended to point a finger Hachi, who was well known for trying to unsurp the position of heiress, never mind that Hama had a twin sister who could take over. But every time had been foiled- even Masumi got into it once in a while.

And so, Hama kept to her schedule.

So when she gets up on Friday, she expects everything to be the same as every day. That changes when she enters the living room of her small apartment to find a trench coat on the couch, and a pair of shoes on the floor.

When Hama had moved out of the compound, as was tradition, she had agreed to give her sister a key, just in case. And thus, she got used to random break ins. Sighing, Hama picks up the coat, only to stop upon getting a better look at it.

On the back was a stylized leaf, with the kanji for detective right under it, in a gold colouring

"No way." She breathes out before she turns and heads to her guest room. She kept to the side of the door, and opened it.

Nothing shoots out.

"…Masumi?" she asks, still not in front of the door. A senbon speeds through the door, getting stuck in her wall. "It's Hama."

"…Wha?" She pokes her head in to see her sister blearily sitting up. "Wh' ya in' m' 'me?"

"You're in my apartment Masumi," Hama says, feeling amused at the situation. "Did you make head detective?"

"Yessum." Mutters Masumi, already curling up around a pillow once more.

"When?"

"Yeste'ay."

"…What day is it?"

"…Wedns'ay?"

"…It's Friday Masumi. Have you been doing paperwork?"

"Mmmhmm…" Masumi drifts off to sleep as Hama contains her giggles. Ah, her sister is so cute!

Ever since the… incident, where Uchiha Itachi had killed off his clan, the military police was in shambles. It would have broken apart if it hadn't been for Masumi, who fought to keep her place, and fought for others.

 _"We provide a service to Konoha as a fucking whole. This isn't about being a hero, or fancy ninja tricks, this is about making sure that people are safe in their own homes from robbers or murderers. Civilian monsters. We fight to protect Konoha from the inside, while our comrades fight to protect us from the outside. The civilians need to know they can look to us for protection. We can't just walk away from that because some brat goes crazy!"_

Hama wasn't surprised at all by the fact Masumi was the head detective now.

Though… three straight days of paperwork? Really?

Hama hangs up her sister's coat and heads back to the living room to do her stretching, a soft smile on her face.

-0-

Masumi wakes up with flashes of memories. Some Tori, some of Nina. A handful of Leliana's, and wow, those are fun.

Blinking, the young woman groans in her throat and rubs her face tiredly.

"Fuuuuuck." She moans. Paperwork was evil. Eeeeeeviiiiiil.

She dimly remembered the conversation from earlier and sighs. Of course, she broke into Hama's apartment. Her mind had been fucking with her last night, images of her families. She had wanted to make sure her sister was safe.

Sighing, the woman stood, stretching. Eighteen years since the day she unlocked her memories. And barely eight years since everything.

She thinks about it sometimes. If she hadn't denied everything so much and had managed to save Obito. But… how? She had been two years older then him, and was already in AnBU when he had been promoted to chunin. There had been nothing she could do.

And she had clung so hard to denial… And now she couldn't do anything but try and make Konoha a safer place, which she preferred anyway, honestly. Let others be the heroes. She liked her work as a detective more.

Sighing, Masumi gets up and heads to the kitchen, where Hama is cooking. Masumi checks the clock on the wall. Five-thirty. Her sister's running a bit late on her routine.

"Hey, thought you'd be up. I made some hot water for tea if you're interested." Masumi grins a bit at her sister.

"Excellent, I've been building up a new resistance lately." She heads to grab her coat as Hama hums in interest.

"New poison from Suna?"

"Yep." Laughs Masumi as she pulls out the sample. She tended to slip poison into her drinks to build her resistance to said poisons, her bloodline helping her there. As she heads back to prepare her tea, Hama sighs.

"…We're making some headway in being stated as Sasuke-chan's foster family." Masumi freezes for a split second.

"…I thought we were all ready, with the whole former subordinate clan thing." She continues to make her tea- a simple blend given she was still exhausted from her three-day workload.

"No, it's more complicated than that. It somewhat looks like we're trying to have him be part of the clan, have him marry a child of ours…" Hama shakes her head in bitterness.

"…This is about Hachi being a bitch again." Masumi groans loudly. "Throw her out already! All she does is bitch and moan about not being heiress!"

"She did talk about betrothing him…" Hama sighs. "I won't though. We don't do that." The Chano clan's long tradition of never arranging marriages was an annoyance to some clans. The constant refusal pissed people off terribly. But with such a dangerous bloodline, it was better to let people find love, though the general consensus was to have children before age thirty.

"We do push kids together, though." Masumi grunts, thinking of her mother and their supposed father. "Is Wakaba saying you should go for that merchant again?" Said merchant was a glass merchant who got wares from Suna. A nice enough man, but a bit of a bore.

"Yes. And I won't. Every single head of our family has cheated on their spouse with a ninja." Hama points out, and both girls think of the markings hidden on Masumi's face with facepaint. A legacy of their biological father.

"Great-aunt Hachi didn't." Masumi points out, even though honestly it's true.

"She wasn't supposed to be the head." Hama points out. "I am going to be the first one to stay loyal no matter what." It's the dirty secret of the Chano clan. No true heir was a child born in wedlock. Hama's wish to make sure it happened now was a surprise.

"Better do it soon, or Wakaba will find some way to fuck you over," Masumi says as she fixed up her tea, a bit of poison in it. She drank it down with a quick move. Better to make sure her sister didn't drink it.

"Don't swear," Hama says. Masumi snorts, and leans against the wall, as Hama stares at the food. "…What if I told them about our grandfather?" Masumi gets it in a split second and she stands up straight.

"…No, don't you dare." Masumi says, sitting down her cup. "You want that psycho coming after us?" She doesn't say anything about the fact she knew he wouldn't. She knows the reason why everyone died, and the blood drips off her hands. She's a real life Lady Macbeth.

"It might be the only way Masumi or he gets no help whatsoever!"

But he has to get no help. Masumi isn't sure what had changed, but there had been no Chano clan. Sasuke had been alone. Was it cruel to let him be alone? Yes, hence why she didn't make a fuss about the fact Hama was trying. Alei did nothing, letting her daughter take the reigns. Her first try at doing politics.

But this was too far.

"They find out that, they could find out that-" Hama turns, her eyes bleeding red. Masumi winces, seeing those eyes that had activated the day of the Kyuubi attack, where Kaede died. Where their clan suffered a blow as all of their tea leaves shriveled up and died. Where Hama was so terrified, she activated the eyes of their grandfather.

"And so?" the eyes spin and then cut out, Hama turning to cooking.

"I can't believe you." Hama turns, a glare on her face. "You would throw everything away? They see those eyes, and you're a fucking Uchiha in a split second flat. They won't listen, they have their heads so far up their asses they can't fucking see shit."

"And I can't believe you quit AnBu. You were the _Dokun'na._ Our clan's legacy, and you threw it away. For a job as a detective. So don't complain to me about my want to protect a cousin." Masumi couldn't stay after that, leaving in a whirlwind. She hopped out of the window and left, the screams of their mother in her ears.

She hates this. Hates, hates, hates and loathes fighting with Hama, but she does. It's probably because of her damn need to protect people. It's always been there, and she wonders sometimes about her fourth life. The finale unlocking would mean an inevitable death by madness as her brain eats itself. Unless she uses the final technique which would mean instant death.

She won't though. She promised Kaede before she died, choking on the corrosive chakra of the Kyuubi.

Masumi sighs, rubbing her face tiredly as she eyes places to eat. She's been surviving on pretty much nothing for a while, and wants a good meal. She hates barbecue, not a fan of hot pot…

A sign catches her attention, and she smiles.

Ramen, a good choice. But that name… Ramen Ichiraku. It sounds familiar.

Shrugging, Masumi enters, smelling the spiced air.

"Ah, hello officer!" says the owner, a big smile on his face.

"Detective actually. Detective Chano." That gets a shocked look.

"Ah, you're the one who kept the police force running! In that case, this bowl is on the house! Thank you for your service."

"Might need more than a bowl." Masumi laughs, and grins, pulling the scar on her cheek a bit, ignoring the wince it causes. "I'll have the miso to start, please." She sighs as he begins to fix up a bowl.

How was she going to fix this mess? She'd quit AnBu after… after that had happened. She couldn't stomach it anymore. And this was after Leliana's memories made an appearance. Said a lot really.

So she went for her passion. Protecting people. She may not work in a jail anymore, but she finds it more satisfying where she is, finding criminals and making sure the public is safe.

An article she once read speaks in her head. Psychopaths and sociopaths are preferred by the government to be army men. They like killing, they take pride in what they do, and they don't break. Konoha is a city of psychopaths and sociopaths, some of which never get placed on the front line. Some hide their thoughts, and some hide who they are. Some fail out and take their anger out on the civilians.

She wonders what she is sometimes, but doesn't dwell long. She's to scared to analyze that.

A bowl of ramen is placed before her and she says a quick thanks before digging in. She had lived on coffee and danger while doing the paperwork that had piled up during the last two months since the incident.

Coffee. Coffee. She would never tell her sister that. Tea was her preferred drink, but she needed to keep awake, and she didn't trust her coworkers- now subordinates- to not peek at her making the secret tea of her family- the high caffeine version. And not see her add a bit of poison to it. It wasn't the subtle way of the assassins blend, but it had more kick when she did it.

Though… that would be an excellent way to make them fear her…

She barely notices the boy coming in, thinking far too much about her plans and her plots. It's only when he orders she notices him.

Blonde hair. Blue eyes. And whiskers.

Fuck.

She's avoided this kid so far. She isn't cruel, and has worked a shift on guard duty- managed to kill the caretaker before she put poison in the milk once- but she keeps away.

She knows his future. Knows what will happen, and the part that had her wanting kids- Leliana had a baby with her girl, an adopted one. And Tori was talking about insemination with her wife- wants to wrap him up in cotton and never let him go. But she doesn't. She isn't the type to change the world- she just holds the fort.

So she ignores the kid, eating away as he chats, not even noticing her.

"And I don' get it, ya!" the kid whines in street, and god it makes her ears ache. Street is never fun to listen to, never. "Told 'im he was actin' like a buggy, and Iruka-sensei gets this look! Like he doesn' know, ya?" he snorts. "Then taijutsu trainin' is a bust!" He begins to show his stance, hopping down from the stool to show it, whining about how he got yelled at for improper stance and how bad it had been in the spar, and-

"…That is the shittiest stance I have ever seen." It slips out and wow, she can't take it back, but it's true! It is shit.

"Whatcha talkin' about!" the boy snarls, and she eyes him. He's a wild dog, about to bite if pressed, and damn does she want to ruffle his hair, he's so cute.

"You're to rigid, keep your arms looser. Your feet should be about shoulder-width apart, not to close, keep a foot slightly behind you for balance." She lists, her hands moving. She's always talked with her hands, but when she gets into a conversation, she really moves them. "Having good balance means getting pushed back won't tip you over kid." She finishes her ramen and orders some shrimp ramen afterward. "And talking street isn't the smartest thing you can do kid."

"Whys 'at?" the kid asks, defensive.

"Because jutsu- especially ninjutsu and genjutsu- tends to require talking unless you're really good at it. And one missed pronunciation means death." Masumi replies, as she orders a tea, and dumps a bit of poison in it, knocking it back with a wince. Gah, weak stuff. "Keep the slang it can help, but watch it around your classmates, never know when they'd take offense." She offers, and Naruto stares at her in shock.

"Whys… Why is that?" he speaks and he thinks his words through, and wow, it's… it's nice to hear him taking her seriously. The ramen stall owner gives her the shrimp ramen and she gets Naruto to eat his own large bowl as she speaks.

"Slang is unique to every village. But most forget that. It's easy to peg an infiltrator when they mistakenly dress like a slummer and don't know what red-eye or white-eye means." Masumi says, munching away.

"…Whats ya name?" He blushes and Masumi ignores it, shrugging.

"Detective Chano Masumi." He eyes her then, a bit of a stink eye, but then he nods and smiles brightly.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Future Hokage!"

"Nice, what do you want to specialize in then?" Naruto blinks and tilts his head. "…How long have you been at the academy?"

"Two years." Masumi wants to groan in displeasure. They didn't teach this stuff early enough anymore! Peacetime sucked for teaching all of the kids properly.

"Long story short kid is that only a jonin can be Hokage. But there is a limited number of slots for jonin. Plus, specializing is more important than people think. It proves you are one of the best." Naruto frowns and turns to his food. "I specialize in poison." She offers the fact rather common knowledge about her anyway. "And detective jutsu is another area I'm proficient in."

"Issit hard ta… Is it hard to learn?" Naruto asks curiously.

"Not really, just takes a lot of refining kid." A crow caws and she looks up to see a crow flap his wings twice while on the roof of an opposite building, before going to fly in a tight circle. "Shit." She finishes her food quick and then tosses money down. "For the soup."

"I said the first one was free!" the owner protests, and she waves a hand.

"Let it pay for the kid's food then!" Masumi leaves in a swirl of leaves, leaving behind a little boy who stares after her in wonder.

Masumi moves quick, to the station where her assistant- Akatsuki (she had a long laugh about that, and it still makes her giggle) was waiting.

"Double homicide. Looks like it was done by claws." Masumi sighs in annoyance.

"Let me guess, trying to pin the blame on Uzumaki again." Akatsuki snorts.

"Probably." She rolls her eyes and heads out.

Time to go to work.

* * *

Tada! This chapter was fun!

Original outline had Masumi be Naruto's age, but as I played with her, I realized I wanted a gritty cop story. So here we are. And we got to see Hama! I love those two.

I plan on doing flashbacks and the lot for this story. Masumi has a rich past, and I want to show it a bit.

The slang bit is actually a huge thing for another story, and I was happy to include it here, given I actually made up a bunch of slang for Konoha as a whole.

If anyone has questions, I have a blog for all my stories- it's on my profile!

Now- who can guess what lives she had before, other then Tori? Like which franchise are they from?

Review, please!


	3. Case File 1: The Children are Missing

Title: Untraveled Road

Summary: Masumi just wanted to keep her head down. She had no interest in changing the story, and being a detective was her way out. But when she ended up on the case for missing kids, plus with Naruto clinging to her like a burr, she might have no other choice. SI OC

 **WARNING: Animal death** inside this chapter. A rat is killed in an experiment. This part begins by talking about poison and ends at a -0-. Skip if you are uncomfortable with this.

* * *

Masumi's department in the Military Police was created from the best of the best she could find.

Inuzuka Fusao, the top tracker of the Inuzuka clan for ten years. No one could escape him and his dog, Ai. He was a detective for five years, and despite that had no problems with Masumi leading, claiming he had no need for the responsibility.

No, the fact he didn't want to wear the damn uniform wasn't the reason. Stop asking.

Yamanaka Sugi. Top agent for the Hunter-Nin, retired to work as a criminal profiler and interrogator. Sugi was a pretty interesting woman, with her skills in her bloodline only the tip of the iceberg. Currently trying to get pregnant, hence her retirement to the Military police.

Nara Hanako, second cousin to Nara Shikaku. Ex-AnBu, Hanako was the single mother of a little girl and a great detective. Often tired, and constantly worried about her daughter, Hanako was the smartest of the unit.

Tanaka Akatsuki. Detective from the getgo, Akatsuki was orphaned during the Shinobi War. Refusing to go into the main ninja branch, he turned to police work and made a name for himself. He also was a well-known target for pranks.

They are a good bunch of people though handling paperwork tends to be decided by a flip of a coin. It had been started as a joke, but they did stick to it.

Hence, why Masumi was currently working late, trying to get the last of the paperwork done.

They had caught the moron who tried to pin the homicides on Naruto- idiot was a civilian who was related to the victims. He also had a grudge a mile wide against Naruto for stupid reasons. He thought he could kill two birds, one stone- get the family fortune, and throw the 'Kyuubi brat' into jail.

Idiot. Moron. Dimwit. Imbecile. Nuthead. Masumi frowns, trying to think of other creative insults.

Twit. Blockhead. Ninny. Cretin. What was that Orlesian insult? Imbécile, Dipshit was a pretty good one to...

"Thinking of different ways to call our perp an idiot boss?" asks a voice, startling Masumi, who had taken out paper to write said insults down. She looks up to see Nara Hanako at her desk with a mug of tea that Masumi happily took

"Perhaps." Replies Masumi, sighing. "How did interrogation go?" She cracks her neck tiredly as Hanako replies, heading to sit down at her own desk. Masumi had stationed the room so all of her immediate subordinates were in the same office, in case they were needed, when she was offered to make her own office. The Military Police force only has five detectives- Masumi not included- and as such, it was easier to be in the same room.

"Well, I built up a good rapport with the guy, and he told me a bit. Turns out there is a group conspiring to apparently take down the ninja council, and make Konoha a civilian village completely. Our perp was to have Naruto jailed so he couldn't be turned into a ninja."

"…What the fuck?" Masumi groans, dropping her head. "Ugh, did you tell Akatsuki?"

"Yep- he told a couple of the beat cops and they're arresting the main members now," Hanako says, closing her eyes and leaning back. Masumi sighs and pulls her head up to finish working on her paperwork, drinking some tea while she did so. Soft snores fill the room, and Masumi flings a stapler at Hanako without looking, hitting her in the shoulder and having her fall sideways.

"What the fuck?!" Hanako whines a bit at Masumi, who rolls her eyes.

"It's passed your shift- beat it," Masumi says as she works.

"…Rather not." Masumi looks up, frowning. Hanako looks tired and uncomfortable. "It's the heir's birthday."

"…Aren't you Nara-sama's cousin?" asks Masumi, raising an eyebrow. Nara Hanako tried to distance herself from the main branch for unknown reasons, it was always confusing.

"Second cousin, and well…" Hanako rubs the back of her head. "I have a kid you know?" Masumi rolls her eyes. Of course, she knows- a little girl named Chizu. No father was named, but that didn't fully matter for ninja clans. Some banged a friend, had a kid, and never put the name on the certificate.

Hanako talked about her all the time, it was annoying.

"How does this have anything to do with your second cousin's birthday?"

"She's Shikamaru-chan's age… she survived the Kyuubi even though she's got chakra sensitivity, even though Shikako… didn't." Hanako grimaces. "It's easier to not be around, you know?" Masumi winces, but nods.

Everyone knew about the incident. A lot of babies died that day. Every child that survived was envied by those who lost a young one.

"Well, you're not sleeping. Help me with my paperwork, and we can go out for supper. You can tell your clan your boss needed help." Hanako grins, and nods, and they go on with their work.

As they leave later, Masumi wonders where to go, while Hanako pulls on her trench coat.

"What do you want for supper?" Masumi asks as they exit the police station. Hanako shrugs lazily.

"Something quick, really. I heard that ramen place near here is good." Masumi agrees, not really thinking about it until they're at the stand, and she curses herself.

She forgot again.

"Hey, lady!" Naruto cries upon seeing her. He doesn't notice the other woman next to the nice lady from the week before, the one who had helped him out! Iruka-sensei had been really shocked he had stopped talking street and had fixed his stance! It was so awesome!

"It's Masumi kid." Masumi sighs, as she ducks under the awning, Hanako staring at Naruto with a shocked expression.

"Oh, yeah, Masumi-san! I did what ya suggested an'- I did what you suggested." Naruto corrects himself, grinning up at Masumi. "I went up two ranks in sparring!"

"Hey, good job kid," Masumi says, flashing a tired smile at Naruto, whose grin widens. "Oi, Hanako, you sitting down?" It clicks then, and she curses in her mind as Hanako stares at the child.

Hama doesn't really care, nor does Masumi's mother. Kaede knew Mito-same, and Alei had been the woman's goddaughter. They don't think of Naruto as anything but a child.

But others might. Even Akatsuki gets a pinched look thinking of said child at times. It sucks, but they all remember. They all remember the flowers dying, the miscarriages. The babies lying still in their cribs, the chakra too much. Those that survive are miracles.

Hanako takes a breath and then smiles. "Of course boss." She sits down as Naruto stares at her in shock. "Nara Hanako kid!"

"Oh, like Shikamaru? He's in my class!" Naruto says, and Hanako laughs.

"Yeah, he's my cousin actually." Hanako didn't bother getting into the large family history right then. To long.

"Cool!" Naruto laughs and sits down. Hanako is a bit pensive, and withdrawn, but Naruto talks up a storm, as Masumi listens to the child.

"And so the guy was acting really white-eye, ya know? So I decided to prank him! Dumped paint all over him when he came out of the store!" Naruto laughs, and Masumi snorts, given the description of the man had reminded her of Akatsuki.

…Wait…

"Oh, Kami." Hanako chokes out, a big grin on her face. "Is that why Akatsuki had pink paint in his hair?!"

 _No wonder he doesn't like the kid._ Masumi thinks as she cackles, and ruffles the kids hair.

"Sounds like you might be a good trap specialist one day kid!"

"Yeah, I asked Iruka-sensei 'bout that. Turns out a buncha the other kids didn' know either." Naruto's speech had slipped back into street though Masumi didn't bother reminding him. He was yawning, and rubbing his eyes, obviously exhausted. "So he talked 'bout it…" he squints at Masumi suddenly, startling the woman. "Is it hard bein' a detective?"

"It's not a walk in the park," Masumi says as Hanako bite out a curse suddenly, her eyes on the clock on the stall's wall.

"I have to get home. See you, Boss, see you, kid." She takes off, tossing a pile of bills on the counter and heads home.

"OI! WE'RE GOING THROUGH THE VAULT FRIDAY!" Masumi calls out as a reminder before she turns back to Naruto. "It's hard work, but really rewarding in the end. Being able to save a life, to stop a murderer, to find a missing person… it's amazing."

"Why did ya choose it?" Naruto asks, and Masumi hums, as she eats her beef ramen.

"I want to help people. I love helping people and letting them know I'm there. I want to protect Konoha and all of her people. I want to provide a safe and happy place for children to grow up, for people to be able to walk the streets safely. I choose this life because I want to help." It's an honest answer, though not completely. Some of it would never be said, and some were hidden in layers in her words. Masumi smiles at the boy, who smiles back. "Now, it's almost ten- you should be at home."

"Shouldn't you?" Naruto asks, looking defensive as he scowls at her.

"I'm an adult." Masumi grins and the boy pouts before he pays for his food and takes off. Masumi chuckles, as the owner of the stall, laughs.

"He doesn't get a lot of people who act like that around him," He tells Masumi, who shrugs.

"Most people are idiots. He's a kid who I ran into twice- not like it's hard to be nice to a kid." The man laughs, and Masumi finishes her food before heading home to her apartment in the ninja complex.

Ninja complexes were apartment complexes run by ninja for ninja. They had thick walls layered in seals, open rooms, and easy to use appliances, as well as many secret compartments hidden throughout, that no one was legally allowed to know unless they owned the apartment.

It was a nice place to live, and Masumi admits to herself she would be living there for a while.

Her mother wasn't happy about her walking away from AnBu.

 _Though, there is no such thing as a retired AnBu._ Thinks Masumi as she opens the window to enter her home. She thinks of her mask, hidden in a closet. She doesn't go on missions officially, but... sometimes the _Dokuon'na_ was needed. She might have unofficially given the title up, but that wasn't truly the real deal.

She still went out when needed. Some missions required deaths to be seen as accidents. Those were mostly the political missions.

What was that quote... from that game? Or perhaps another life? She remembered one life had been a video game...

"Politicians are the weeds of the galaxy," she snorts to herself as she flicks on the light, disabling her gas trap. She sighs, and checks her watch. She has an early shift, but checking on her various poisons was probably the best idea.

She strips off her coat and shirt, leaving her in a fishnet shirt with a built in bra. Tossing the shirt into the hamper in the living room, she lays the coat along the couch and heads to the hall closet, pulling out a new shirt and a lab coat. Dressing quick, she grabbed a gas mask and pulled it on.

Immunity to most poisons or not, she is not risking her life, even if she knows the poisons.

Entering her second bedroom, she flicks the light five times, disabling the traps.

In the bedroom, she had created a lab. Four tables were filled with various instruments, flasks boiling, test tubes filled with ominous liquids. And at the back, a simple radio sat on another table, one with a filing cabinet beneath that was filled with syringes and ties. Next to the table was five cages, three with rats inside though no more than three to a cage, though.

Masumi walks inside to look upon her newly brewing poisons. Her title of Poison Mistress is not undeserving. She had created three different poisons in her life- one she remembered from the life of Leliana. Adder's Kiss was a very fun position that caused the victim's muscles to lag, and their heart to slow. To much, and they were dead.

But, like all masters, there is always the one thing she can never do. A puzzle passed down from her grandmother.

Noticing said puzzle was finished boiling, she carefully picks up the flask. Eyeing the purple liquid, she heads over to the station she used for this. She flicks on the radio to record as she readied the station.

"June 18th. The latest batch of Chakra Kira is finished." She announces clearly, as she puts the flask down and grabs a pair of gloves, pulling them on. "I have increased the ph to 8 while adding a pinch of belladonna," She speaks as she grabs a syringe, and inserts it into the flasks mouth, drawing up the liquid. Leaving the needle on the table, she reaches into the closest cage to pull out a rat. "I will be testing this poison on rat number eighty-two." Inserting the needle into the struggling rat's neck, she presses the plunger.

For a second, nothing, then the rat struggles even more, as foam spurts out of its mouth. Holding onto it, Masumi feels the life slip away, leaving nothing but a dead body behind.

It's a powerful feeling, feeling the death of a living creature in her hands. It might have been caused by poison, but she had still killed the creature.

Masumi lets out a breath, and then nods, before she picks up a scalpel, and begins to cut away.

"Death caused in a minute from insertion. Cause of death… heart explosion." She curses, and sighs, as she places the scalpel down.

Another failure.

Chakra Kira was the unsolved poison her grandmother never finished. She nearly got it but fell short every time.

And it seems she would leave this puzzle for her future heiress as well.

Huffing, Masumi takes the corpse of the rat and tosses it into a bin, adding the needle and gloves as well. A quick katon jutsu destroyed the evidence, and she took the dud poison, adding it to a few vials with the information of what had been caused.

Waste not.

Masumi finishes in her lab and leaves the room, shucking off her clothes, and walking to the bathroom to make sure she didn't have anything left on herself.

Before bed, she made a mental note to buy some more rats, as well as seeing if T&I had some prisoners she could use the poison on.

In another life, she would have been horrified at the idea of animal experimentation, and be disgusted at using prisoners of war for testing poisons but in this one, she wasn't. Perhaps it could also be attributed to Leliana. Perhaps it was her unknown fifth life.

She would never really know.

-0-

"Why hasn't this been done before?" Inuzuka Fusao asks Masumi, as they shuffle through the boxes located in the Vault. The Vault was the nickname used for the large closet where they put all of the old case notes. No one has been looking forward to cleaning it out.

"We were busy, what with trying to get everything in order, and hiring new staff Fusao." Masumi points out, as the dog next to the Inuzuka snorts.

"She's got you there," Ai tells his master, who scowls at the dog."How fucking old is this?" asks Yamanaka Sugi, as she rifles through a large box. "This shit looks older than the village!"

"How fucking old is this?" asks Yamanaka Sugi, as she rifles through a large box. "This shit looks older than the village!"

"Probably is from the beginning of the village Sugi," Akatsuki tells the woman, who huffed in annoyance. "This is... the worst filing system I have ever seen.

"It's not that bad," Masumi says.

"That's because your idea of organizing is to shove it in a box, and then shove it in the closet, boss," Hanako says as she grabs a set of boxes and stands, heading to her desk to sort through them.

"Only with the really old files," Masumi states as she picks up another box and opens it, looking through the files. "Besides, it's obvious that they probably used their sharingans."

"...How is that obvious?" Sugi asks, the Yamanaka raising an eyebrow at her boss, wondering about her mental state.

"Wouldn't you do the same if you have a bloodline that made you able to see things no one else could?" Masumi asks, laughing as Hanako walks by. The Nara doesn't notice Ai as the dog stretches, concentrating on moving the boxes to her desk. She trips, cursing as she does so.

"SHIT!" curses the Nara as files fly everywhere. Groaning, the group begin to gather them up when Masumi finds one had a black X marked on it.

"Huh, why is an unsolved case in these files?" she asks curiously, opening it and beginning to read it.

"Misfile?" Hanako asks, a bit pale as she watches her boss read the file. Masumi's face grows confused as she reads.

An orphan went missing seven years back- before the Kyuubi attack. The kid was a little baby boy, black hair, pale skin. He was marked as a possible Uchiha bastard child and was put under observation.

Masumi frowns, looking at the file. It was never solved, and still open, despite another note detailing the body of a child being found a year later, a black haired boy with pale skin. DNA testing had only really come into practice after the Kyuubi- thanks to the found notes of Orochimaru- so why was this still open? It didn't make sense.

"What's wrong Masumi-sama?" Akatsuki asks, and Masumi hands him the file, still frowning. "Huh, think this kid was kidnapped by Orochimaru for his testing? He was still in the village around then… kid had needle marks."

"Why would he throw away an experiment?" Masumi asks. "No… it doesn't make sense." She frowns, and then opens another box, hunting for another file with a black X. Finding one, she opens it to find a case from almost ten years ago. A blonde girl went missing from the orphanage. No distinguishing marks, a normal child. "…Look for all the marked files, keep any that had a child go missing." The group hunted for two hours, organizing along the way. They discarded based on age, and if it had been fully confirmed if they found the child already.

"Fifty-two cases in the past… thirty-five years." Sugi says as Masumi begins to flip through the pile of what they had found.

"Two hundred since Konoha was created," Fusao says, as Ai snarls at his feet.

"…This one is a Nara child." Masumi says, making Hanako jerk her head up in horror. "Civilian… Hyuuga… Yamanaka…Orphan…Akmichi…Civilian…"

Twenty-two orphans were missing in the past thiry-five years. Ten civilian couples were missing their children. Two Hyuuga couples had reported their children gone. Three Akamichi, four Nara, Two Uchiha, one Aburame and three Yamanaka. And five possible children of clans.

"What the fuck?" Sugi asks.

"How… how did no one notice?" Fusao says, Ai whining. Masumi turns to the vault, and frowns.

"Get a Hyuuga in here," She orders Akatsuki who takes off without a second thought. "Sugi, my sister is talented with seals, go grab her. Hanako, I want you to go get the Hokage."

This… this isn't Danzo. She knows it isn't. Some of it could be, but…he isn't so stupid as to leave a trail like this. He hides it better- he would steal the files, and destroy them. And the files, the circumstances, go back farther then he had been alive.

This is someone else.

Someone had been hunting their children.

* * *

It isn't Danzo.

No, I am serious, there are a few who are him, but the truth is that this isn't Danzo.

I hope you guys enjoyed this, plus the intro of the new characters, all background. And I hope you enjoy the new slang! Go to my blog to get a full list, and I have FIXED IT! I was unaware you couldn't send me messages, so now you can as well!

Review please!


	4. Case File 1 Part II

**Title:** Untraveled Road

 **Summary:** Masumi just wanted to keep her head down. She had no interest in changing the story, and being a detective was her way out. But when she ended upon the case for missing kids, plus with Naruto clinging to her like a burr, she might have no other choice. SI OC

* * *

"Kami." The Hokage says, his face horrified. Masumi wordlessly hands him the files, and he reads them in horror.

They're standing in the office, as Hama is poking at the doors, eyes narrowed in thought. She's wearing a beautiful kimono, with her hair daintily up.

"Did we interrupt your date?" Masumi asks her sister. Hama sighs.

"It was set up by mother, so I honestly don't mind." She tells her sister as the Hyuuga, a branch member named Jiro, looks with his eyes activated.

"I don't mind either, it was a terrible date." Jiro says, and Hama laughs.

"I really don't see why it was offered between us." She tells him, and Jiro shrugs, more amused then anything. Masumi snickers, agreeing. Jiro is a paper-ninja, a man who loves his clan's heritage, talking about it all the time. Hama isn't the type to enjoy that.

"It's a genjutsu, not a seal I believe." Jiro states, Hama nods in agreement as she cannot find any seals as she pokes at the doorway, frowning as her mind keeps telling her to look elsewhere.

"It's most likely it was linked to the Uchiha." Sugi offers, as she gathers more files. "It doesn't work on us." Masumi shakes her head.

"It's not common knowledge, but the Chano clan did intermarry with the Uchiha. Hama and I have their blood. It should have worked for us."

"Unless they needed the sharingan." Fusao says to his boss as the Hokage finishes the files and sits in the chair they offered. "But we can't test that without that Sasuke kid."

Hama looks at Masumi who winces, and bites her lip, before she nods ever so slightly. Hama closes her eyes and opens them, the sharigan activated as she takes the files.

"…What the fuck?" Hanako splutters.

"Like I said, the Uchiha blood is in our veins." Masumi says, as she groans internally, her heart sinking as she realizes this will inevitably make it out to others. Haichi would try to use this to unseat Hama, and that was going to be a nightmare. "Hama's just got the stronger gift."

"I see. And was this the new revelation you were going to offer in the custody battle?" Hirzune asks, half surprised. Chano Masumi had been in his vision since the day after she activated her bloodline, and her grandmother had come to offer what had happened. An entire new set of memories- memories of a woman as a prison guard. It had caught his interest- the only recording of an incident like this had ended in suicide, and she had been a civilian in her previous life.

He had watched her… though he had watched her before anyway, given her lineage. The Chano clan was a sneaky one, but he knew them very well. He also knew a bit more than most thought, such as the fact that Chano Masumi and Hama's father was not Chano Kuzuo, a tea merchant who had happened to die from a heart attack that was caused by over eating.

He knew his students. He knew that Jiraiya had been fond of young Alei, and that Orochimaru had been curious about sex, and had been friendly enough with Alei, given she ran his favorite tea shop, to ask questions. Did he know which one was the twins' father? No. But he knew one was.

But, Hama's reveal of her own bloodline was shocking. He wonders, briefly, how this would affect the inheritance of the clan. Hopefully it wouldn't cause more paperwork.

He'd make Masumi do it then.

"Hama has been making noise about it, yes." Masumi sighs, knowing now that nothing was going to change it. They would get custody of Sasuke, and the future would be changed in an instant, despite her worries.

Or maybe it wouldn't… Sasuke was a little ball of hate. Maybe if she indirectly encourages that and now discourage his need for vengeance…

"There's a voice in my head saying nothing is wrong." Hama offers, eyes narrowed. Masumi jumps a bit and turns to her sister. "I keep wanting to put down the files and ignore them."

"Who cast it though?" Akatsuki asks, as the large group look around, Hanako silent, her face pale as snow.

"Someone who knows the Uchiha eyes very well." Hama says, as she puts the files down. Jiro scanned the genjutsu once more, nodding in agreement.

"So, we're looking for some fuck who knows the eyes, and decided to make a hobby out of kidnapping kids." Masumi says, eyes narrowed. "Not Inuzuka kids though…"

"This needs to be a silent investigation." Sarutobi tells his underlings, who nod. Hama nods as well, her face grim. "Complete secrecy. Chano-san, tomorrow we will hold court for custody." _I'll back you if you don't say a word_ goes unsaid among them, and Hama nods, eyes happy as Masumi sighs.

"I will send a pair of AnBu to help the investigation as well." Sarutobi states, noticing the stiffened spines of the detectives as they stand up straight at his words.

The rivalry that existed between the AnBu force and the Military Police was a well-kept secret. AnBus were spies, and they did their own investigations. They had no real rules, compared to the by the book MPs. Both had butted heads many times since Konoha was created, all arguing over who got to do what in the village.

Masumi turning 'traitor' and joining the police had never gone down well.

"No masks." Masumi says firmly. "This is a Military Police investigation, not an AnBu Operation." Satrutobi nods, knowing of the rivalry.

"Agreed." With that, he leaves, and Masumi lets out a breath.

"I need a map of Konoha." She grabs a set of files, looking through them. "And tacks. Lets see if a pattern develops." Sugi goes to the back to grab a map while Fusao pulls out the tacks from his desk, Akatsuki grabbing another pile of files. Hanako grabs a set as well, looking determined.

It takes a few hours to get the map set up, the tacks marking the placed children went missing. Some of the places had been knocked down, or repurposed into shops. It was interesting.

"Strange." Remarks Sugi, as she studies the map. She taps a finger on the First District, her face thoughtful. "It seems like orphan kidnapping picked up in the last twenty or so years…"

 _While ROOT's been active._ Masumi thinks as she leafs through the files. "You're right. The kidnappings started around ten years after Konoha was created, and it mainly stuck to Senju and Uchiha kids- random disappearances. As more clans came though, more kids went missing."

"The Uchiha and Senju clans have the most recorded amount of kids missing." Fusao pipes up. "Not many Inuzuka…" he grins a bit, happy at this, as Ai pants at his feet. Masumi doesn't give more then a passing glance. Dogs were not her favorite animal, not since Nina. She can handle being around one, but ask her to touch one? Ha, no.

"A couple way back…" Akatsuki says, holding files. "But they were found again, dead." Fusao nods, his face bleak.

"We bond with our dogs for our health as well. We die without them." No one mentions he has just revealed a clan secret, instead Hanako groans.

"We're going to have to go through all the files, aren't we?"

"Shit, you're right! Woe! Woe I say!" Sugi moans, pouting as she drops dramatically on the ground. "Oh, Woe!

"How can this be!" Hanako joins in, falling down. The two moan and cry, making Fusao snort at their dramatics.

"…I'm going to brew some tea." Masumi announces, going to the kettle they keep in the corner, with a set of tea bags nearby. "Ick." Masumi says as she picks up a bag.

"Tea snob, you don't have to drink it!" Sugi calls out.

"I'm a Chano, I think I have the right to be a tea snob!" Masumi calls back, as she turns the kettle on. "Now, let's really get started."

-0-

"Have you all been here since last night?" asks a brunette woman, dressed in a simple dress. She leads a young child into the officer, raising an eyebrow at the looks of everyone.

"Toki!" Sugi cries. "Love of my life!" she hops up and hugs her wife, as Hanako grins and grabs the little girl.

"Chizu! Did you have fun with auntie Toki?"

"Hi Toki." Call the others, as they study the map of Konoha.

Masumi had hoped for a pattern, but it seemed like nothing was working out to how it should. It was all over the place, with barely anything to show for it.

She half looks at Toki and Chizu, amused. Toki has the more common features of Konoha, dark hair, light skin and dark eyes, her hair in a tight braid, unlike her wife, with her traditional blonde hair and blue eyes.

Chizu doesn't greatly resemble Hanako though. Dark brown hair, dark eyes, Chizu is a lovely little girl, while Hanako sprouts black hair and black eyes. It's interesting to see, though they share the Nara chin.

Hanako hums to herself, debating genetics as she stares at the map. Clan genetics are a fascinating thing, really. Traits were passed down through the generations, making clans recognizable instantly, sure as the red triangle birthmarks all Inuzuka had if they carried the gene to let them be able to connect with their dogs…

There were also their basic features. The Nara clan have the typical Asian features of Japan from Toki's life, while their eyes were more pointed, like a dagger. The Yamanaka were more built like that one French girl who had been a fellow coworker in the prison. Akatsuki had the harsh features of a German man she had known, and Fusao had the looks of this one Native man she had taken classes with.

It was a huge melting pot, and it was interesting to see such familiar features in this world, where everything had been a cartoon before.

"Masumi-sama!" a familiar shakes her, and she moves, a senbon in her hands, and pressed to Akatsuki's jugular, who just raises an eyebrow. "It's noon, and Toki-san has asked if we wish to get take-out?" Masumi blinks, and nods, her senbon going back up her sleeve and into it's holder.

"…Wait… noon?" Masumi asks, frowning.

"Yep, noon." Ai agrees, the dog look very bored as Fusao tidies up his desk.

"…You all are off until tonight at eight then." Masumi decides. "Go home, sleep, eat and all that. I'll go and get some food for myself and do the paperwork we should have done yesterday."

"Thank you Masumi." Toki says. "I have some news anyway Sugi…" the two left, chatting to one another. Fusao leaves after, Akatsuki going through the window himself, and Masumi leaves alongside Hanako and Chizu.

Masumi is unaware of where her feet are taking her until a shout makes her look up to see Naruto.

She looks up slightly, masking it as cracking her neck, thinking, _What have I done?_ Before Naruto bounds up, grinning.

"Eh, Shikamaru-kun?" he asks Chizu, who blinks, Hanako suddenly stiff. "No wait… yur a girl! Ashes, sorry!"

"It's alright, no harm." Chizu laughs, as Hanako shifts slightly.

"Hello Naruto." Masumi offers, getting the blonde to grin happily.

"Hey Masumi-san! Ah wanted ta… I wanted to ask you somethin'!" the boy grins, and Masumi nods, sitting down with the boy and the two Naras.

"Well, I'm not a Yamanaka, what is it?" Masumi asks, raising an eyebrow as she orders a miso ramen with a smile towards the owner of the stall.

"If I wanted to be a detective, could ah still… I still be Hokage after?" Masumi frowns, thinking.

"I think so." Hanako offers up, as Chizu speaks up,

"You want to be a detective?" Masumi freezes, eyes wide as Naruto cheers a bit, as he shrugs.

"Ah don' know… I mean, I don't know. I was just curious." Masumi slowly nods as well.

"The Hokage is the best ninja in the village, or the named heir to the previous Hokage. Sarutobi-sama was named the Nidaime's heir, though I can't remember if he was the best shinobi or not at the time…"

"How do you know that?" asks Hanako. Masumi shrugs.

"My grandmother was his wife's old teammate. I used to see them all the time." It was half true. Kaede had been Biwako's old teammate, but they had a falling out before Masumi activated her bloodline. It had been over the dangers of having Masumi activate it, Biwako not understanding why Masumi had to activate her bloodline. It had been messy, from the sounds of it.

"Isn't Hokage-sama known as the God of Shinobi though?" Chizu pipes up curiously, her eyes intense.

"Well, yes." Agrees Masumi, her hands moving as she speaks. "But, that title came around… ten… twelve years back? He had to work for it for a very long time."

"So… you can?" Naruto asks, and Masumi nods.

"Yes, but you'd have to be close to the Hokage to be named heir." Masumi warns him. "Detectives aren't really at the front line, so we can't just try to be the strongest to get the title." Thinking she had handled it, Masumi grins as her ramen is placed in front of her, eating it happily.

The group eats quickly, Chizu and Naruto whispering back and forth, both smiling and happy, Naruto looking shocked someone his age was interacting with him. Masumi shares a look with Hanako, who nods, and smiles at the kids.

"You know what, I'm going to be napping for a while, how about you two go play until five, and then you can come eat supper with me?" she asks.

"Sure mommy!"

"…Really?" It's a pitiful voice that says it, and all Masumi wishes to do is wrap Naruto up in cotton and hold on tight to the tiny boy who looks at them with such shocked eyes, Masumi wishes to rip the throat out of anyone who hurts him.

"Of course!" Hanako laughs.

"Can we hang out with auntie Masumi?" Chizu asks, her eyes sharp, and Masumi blinks, ramen in her mouth.

"… All I'm going to be doing is staring at the wall." She says. Chizu did hang out with her before, mostly when Hanako has no other options. Mostly they give her something to read and it's good for a few hours. She doesn't ask questions, and their offices tend to be free of really incriminating things, that's locked away.

"Please?!" Chizu pouts. "Naruto's never seen the office, and we'll be good, I promise!" Naruto has a gleam in his eyes, and he looks so hopeful, Masumi sighs.

She is to soft.

"Fine." She tells them, and they cheer, Hanako snorting quietly to herself.

"Eat your veggies." Hanako tells the kids a little while later. Naruto makes a face and Chizu wrinkles her nose. "Come on, don't you want to grow as tall as Masumi?"

"Leave me out of this." Masumi says, rolling her eyes.

"How tall are ya?" Naruto asks, eyeing Masumi, who sighs, rolling her eyes once more.

"I'm six foot three." She tells him, amused at his wide and awed eyes. "It's not as fun as it sounds." She warns him, jabbing her chopsitcks at him. "I'm easily noticeable, I'm not as agile as most, and people stare. A lot."

"Cause you're extremely tall."

"And you are five feet tall Hanako, you're tiny."

"Not as tiny as Toki."

"By an inch, and she's not even part of the unit."

"We could steal her!"

"I am not telling Anko that I stole her secretary, so if you do it, I will."

"… No thanks Boss, I like living." Hanako says, as the kids watch the banter closely, looking amused by the sight of adults teasing one another.

Once they finished their food, they went their separate ways, Chizu and Naruto following Masumi back to the office.

Naruto looks around with awe as Masumi leads the way to the back, going to her desk to do some paperwork before she goes back to the map.

"Come on Naruto, Masumi-san needs to concentrate!" Chizu says, leading the blonde to her mother's desk, digging around and pulling out a set of shinobi dolls. "Let's play ninja!"

"Yeah!" Naruto says, feeling his heart grow huge as he plays.

First Masumi helped him! She helped him, and it was really nice! Her advice even helped with schooling, and Iruka-sensei was really impressed with how hard he was trying! And then he met Hanako, who was a little weird, but she was nice to!

And now, he has a friend. A really nice friend who wanted to play with him!

Naruto smiles widely as he plays, both kids deciding that the evil emperor of vegetables had kidnapped the awesome princess of candy, and the ninjas of sugar had to free her!

Masumi snorts upon hearing the whole plot. Kids.

The paperwork is pretty easy, and she finishes quickly. It's mostly setting court dates and filling out the agreement form for having AnBu helpers for the kidnapping case. In most cases, they would never cross, too much bad blood between both organizations, but for something like this?

Masumi and her office have other cases- they can't focus all their efforts on this. So, she needs the extra help for this case, despite the bad taste in her mouth at doing so. She may have been AnBu once, but her loyalties are to the Military Police now.

Once she finishes the papers, she stands and goes to the pile of files, looking through them, and looking at the map.

She frowns when she notices the white tacks, meant to show an orphan going missing, are a bit off. She fixes them, looking closer at the files.

Honest mistakes, really. Third district, 3rd street, 45 was off by a street, no big deal.

She fixes the tacks, and stares at the map, frowning.

A small pattern shows with some of them. All of the orphan cases tend to be from the more… red light parts of Konoha. Third district.

Third district had been created by an ambitious civilian clan that ended up crumbling upon the discovery of their pilfering from the banks they ran. Said banks were turned over to Konoha, and the district was opened to the public. But, they had to make a buck somehow, and it became a red light district.

Some of it wasn't bad. Gambling halls, bars, a few seedier hotels, nothing bad. A few strip joints to, one in particular was well loved, given that the employees tended to have some degree of ninja skills, and thus were very good at what they did.

But the other parts… Masumi remembers being called there a lot as an AnBu. Those were the places the Black Market thrived.

The Black Market was a strange thing for Masumi. On one hand, she was duty bound to shut it down as a cop. And she did do so, slavers, child prostitution rings, kidnappings, selling the harder drugs, she shut those down.

On the other hand, the Black Market was the best damn thing for a ninja. Information masters thrived there, perfect for infiltration missions. Illegal items often for a shinobi meant: Cool new toy! As well as the fact it makes her job secure to make sure it thrived.

In her old life, shutting it down was the goal, here… shutting down the bad parts, the parts they were horrified by, was the goal. Other then that… well, a bit of mayhem was good for business.

"Masumi-san!" Chizu calls out, startling Masumi from her thoughts. "Naruto was wondering about chakra control!" Masumi blinks, and turns to the children.

"Why?"

"Chizu-chan waz talkin' abou' how it helps with castin' jutsu!" Naruto says, grinning, his street speak coming back in his excitement, much to the private amusement of Masumi, who nods.

"It does." She agrees. "More control means the more skill you have with throwing jutsu around. For those with a large chakra pool, this means the difference between being able to use bunshin, or having a flop. For those with smaller pools, this means they can toss out the big jutsu easier."

"What kinda stuff can ah do?" Naruto asks, eyes wide, and Masumi hums, thinking.

"The leaf exercise is taught in school… you probably know that one… tree walking is where you apply the same principles and walk up a tree." She says to Naruto, who grins.

"Can ah do it witha wall?" he asks, and Masumi nods.

"But don't do it while practising, otherwise you might put a hole in your walls." She tells him before she goes back to the map, her mind once more focusing on what was in front of her as she hears the kids scurry out.

… _Wait… Kakashi teaches them that. Ah, fuck._

Masumi shakes her head. She really needs to do something about her memory.

-0-

"…You know, when I break into your house, at least you don't have traps."

"I know where your traps are Masumi, they're not hard to avoid then." Hama points out as she barely looks at the window where her sister is perched.

Masumi shrugs and slips in, studying her sister. Her hair is out of it's styled bun, the tresses loose around her face. Her heiress kimono, a light tea green kimono with a white obi, is neatly hanging from a hanger on the wall, Hama having borrowed on of the few dresses Masumi owns.

"Still though, you're not as immune to poison as I am, so watch out please." Masumi tells her sister, as she ditches her trench coat for the couch and removes her shoes. Hama nods, as she finishes brewing the tea in the kitchen.

Her headband is taken off, and her own hair let out of it's bun, the senbon she wears disguised as hair stick laid on the end table by her couch.

Masumi and Hama both keep their hair long, though Hama's reaches her waist, while Masumi's hits her mid back before stopping.

It's times when her sister's hair is down that Masumi remembers how much they resemble on another, despite the darker eyes on Hama. They're both very tall, with lean builds, even if Masumi's arms are much thicker and her shoulders broader. Masumi has the tanner skin of the two, her hands rough, while Hama has the traditional beauty of Konoha.

"I brought some tea cakes from the shop." Hama says, smiling. "Wakaba was on duty." Masumi jerks, raising an eyebrow.

"…Okay, what do you want?" Wakaba had never gotten over being refused heirship over their mother. It was obvious she had hoped to have her daughter named heir, by naming her Haichi, despite the minor scandal it caused in their clan. She charged Hama and Masumi a huge amount of ryo to buy their cakes. Which Masumi was often upset by, given Wakaba made the best _namagashi_ in the clan.

"Why don't we sit down, and talk first?" Hama replies, avoiding the question. Masumi rolls her eyes, and goes to get the traditional table out of storage, instead of her large table.

She sets it up in her living room as Hama gets the tea ready in Masumi's tea set. It was a beautiful tea set, with patterns of vines and leaves all over it, and a deep black inside the cups.

"Where did you get this mug?" Hama asks, sounding horrified by the mug inside the cupboard where she had gotten the tea set. Masumi grins to herself, knowing which mug she spoke of. It had been created as a joke, a mimic of a mug Tori had owned. It clearly stated: A giant cup of shut your fucking bitching. "I thought I broke the last one!"

"Got a new one." Masumi laughs, as her sister brings over the tea, and Masumi grabs the box of goodies.

"I'll break this one then." Mutters Hama, as she sits down. "No need for a ceremony tonight Masumi."

"Now I'm terrified." Masumi says, sitting down, and waiting as Hama pours the tea. Masumi picks it up and drinks, stopping in a second. "… _Himitsu no ocha_ … business."

The _Himitsu no ocha_ was one of the best kept secrets in Konoha. It was the tea brewed by the Chano clan that was a clan secret, with eleven official variations (the twelfth only known to ninja members of the clan). Masumi knew three variations, while Hama knew all of them. Becoming an adult meant you had to brew a perfect pot of said tea.

Most brewed it for pleasure in their homes, Masumi brewing the long night version often while working from home or on her poisons. Brewing the business version though…

"The courts decided, thanks to my eyes, that guardianship of Uchiha Sasuke would be given to the Chano clan on the grounds of blood relation." Hama says, as she opens the box of goodies, a _namagashi_ decorated by a beautiful red flower right in the middle. She offers it to Masumi, who takes it, biting into it to find that it contained strawberry jelly inside.

Her favorite.

"That's good, you got what you wanted." Masumi says, her eyes sharp as her mind takes in everything about her sister. Hama taps her left pointer fingers twice on the table- she does that when nervous. She bites her bottom lip, and her eyes flash to the right. She doesn't want to say something.

"…The agreement states that Sasuke-san is not allowed to live in the compound due to conflict of interest." Hama's voice is quick as she speaks, trying to get it out before Masumi could do anything. "It's felt as if we would force him to our views if he lived in the compound."

"So, he's going to live with you in your apartment?" Masumi doesn't think that's where this is going. She has a terrible feeling about this, as she sits across from her sister, holding her tea cup in between her hands.

"Mother wants me to move back into the compound, and… I don't trust anyone else not to take advantage of the situation other then you." Hama looks at Masumi, firm. Masumi doesn't move, her face blank.

Hama remembers thinking her sister was going to die. She remembers the cold look after that one mission, where Masumi came back and tried to drown herself. Hama remembers the string of girlfriends that never lasted longer then a month, except for Kurenai, who almost tied Masumi down, but the older woman broke it off, never saying why.

Hama agreed to the condition with a thought: Masumi needs something to hold onto.

"My second bedroom is a lab." Masumi says, as she grabs another treat from the box, a nice _sakuramochi_. Hama takes a treat as well, her face still firm. She will not yield. Masumi has to admit, it's one of her more admirable traits, her stubbornness. "A _yokan?_ This is going to be long."

"Can you stop analyzing my food choices?" Hama asks, as she sits straighter, annoyance in her face. "We can buy the apartment next to you- no one lives there, or wants to, according to your landlord-"

"Because my neighbor is annoying."

"I've already spoken to your landlord, and he says knocking a wall down to give you a bigger kitchen is fine." Hama says, as she drinks from her own cup, Masumi falling silent.

She can't change the future, she just can't. Everything worked out for the best, she can't mess it up, she can't! But… perhaps... having him around wouldn't? She just needs to not discourage his thirst for revenge!

"When is he supposed to move in?" Masumi asks, as she grabs another _namagashi_ , this one with an apple filling.

"Tomorrow!" Hama says, smiling, happy her sister had agreed. Now, just to make sure she bonds with Sasuke. "I can draw a seal to give you a door?"

"Sure." Masumi says, shrugging. "…Hey, aren't the second bedrooms on either side to?"

"I can go ask… why, do you want a bigger lab?"

"No, I just was wondering if he had friends over. I'll need to get some seals to protect the room." Masumi says, as she finishes her treat.

She doesn't try to think about Sasuke coming to live with her either. She isn't sure how she's going to handle it.

* * *

So here we are! I debated about having Sasuke come in this chapter, but decided to save the start of that arch for the next chapter. Plus, we got more introduced to the characters, and learn a bit more about Masumi! Including her height, and she's an Amazon. And she rocks it.

The mug... okay, I have that mug and I love it. So Masumi gets one! She mostly has it for her own amusment.

Now, my blog is still up, it's on my profile, and now you can send me messages! I have a stat page for Masumi and I have a few posts of slang I made for this story!

For instance:

 **Ashes:** It's basically the polite form of shit. Kids tend to say this the most.

Review Please!


	5. Case File 1 Part III

**Title:** Untraveled Road

 **Summary:** Masumi just wanted to keep her head down. She had no interest in changing the story, and being a detective was her way out. But when she ended upon the case for missing kids, plus with Naruto clinging to her like a burr, she might have no other choice. SI OC

* * *

Sasuke is both just like she expected, and not.

Masumi has never met the kid before, other then a brief glimpse in the market twice. She remembers him smiling, happy. Now, he's glaring, a dark glare that would evolve into a terrifying one.

Right now, though, it feels like a Chihuahua staring down a Great Dane. Masumi raises an eyebrow at him, unamused by his stance.

She's scarier than him, and she's met scarier, like that one guy who wore red and used twin swords. He talked to himself and had a strange jutsu that helped his regeneration.

It's honestly more amusing than anything.

But underneath his anger, he's… sadly doesn't seem strong enough, but he's not depressed. He's tired, lonely, scared and… sad. He grieves strongly and brightly, standing in the small apartment he had been assigned, dressed in black. A pile of presents is on the floor, uncaring.

People had been trying to win him over, and he looks at them in anger. He doesn't trust them.

Masumi doesn't blame him.

"Hello, Sasuke-san," Hama speaks up, not trusting Masumi to speak. Masumi takes the moment to study Sasuke, her mind in detective mode.

Sasuke's facial features are primarily Asian, unlike Naruto with his more stereotypical American features, or Masumi and Hama with their Scandinavian features. His eyes though are nothing like she's ever seen other then in Hama's eyes. They're wider towards the nose, with a sharp edge pointing towards his ears. They look like a tear drop, really.

His hair as well is much darker than the old show, which Masumi gets. Naruto has the more sunny blonde hair then the bright yellow suggested by the cartoon. After all, this is real life now.

"Chano-san, Detective-san," Sasuke speaks in a clipped tone, his eyes hard. Masumi withholds the snicker at his high pitched voice. It sounds almost like a chipmunk. "The Hokage told me the Chano clan are officially my guardians now."

"Yes, though did he tell you how that was decided?" Hama asks, her voice soft and kind, smiling at him like she would any child. Sasuke scowls at this, and Hama blinks, as Masumi frowns a bit, Sasuke crossing his arms at the two.

"You don't get to treat me like I'm an idiot." He snaps.

"Ashes," Masumi says, smacking her forehead, as Hama looks affronted. "Look, kid, we're not. Hama just isn't used to talking to clan kids."

Ninja clan kids were raised vastly different from civilian kids. They were trained from birth to be killers, and that tended to have parents treating them like semi-adults, as well as letting them run wild. Let them be kids for as long as possible, and teach them how to get away with things.

Hama isn't used to it, and it shows. Masumi is.

"Our grandmother cheated on her husband with a Uchiha." Masumi tells the boy bluntly. "Hama has the sharingan." Hama blinks, opening her eyes to be the hypnotic spinning red of the sharingan.

Sasuke crumbles. His face falls, and he shakes, staring at Hama. In that instant, the angry child changes into a child in pain.

Masumi moves first, dropping to her knees, all thoughts of a maybe future gone as she hugs the boy. She hugs him and doesn't let go, even as he shakes, and she hears him whisper, over and over again.

"He didn't win. He didn' win." She doesn't say anything while her civilian shirt got wet. She doesn't say a word when his voice shakes.

She just holds him.

-0-

Sasuke isn't really sure how he feels about his… cousins.

Bastard children weren't uncommon for the Uchiha clan. It was just that if they had the sharingan, they were brought into the clan. Or they were watched if they did not. It's wrong for them to not be part of the clan.

But if they had been, they'd be dead. That man would have killed them.

He feels bitter happiness and a disturbing glee. Ita… that Man didn't win. There is still family out there.

It just doesn't fully make sense. He knows Hama has the Sharingan, and she's the Chano clan heir, despite Masumi having the bloodline. They explain it a bit while they don't talk about his break down.

He's glad for that.

"Our bloodline is really dangerous. Most of us die from activating it, and we're still a civilian clan… mostly. We need a civilian head, and Hama doesn't use her eyes much."

"Mostly to memorize how to make tea," Hama says, a smirk, as Masumi glares at her.

"Knew it." She grumbles, and shoves Hama, who laughs.

It hurts. Sasuke watches them and feels pain as he realizes what happened. It- That man took everything.

But he didn't. He didn't win, he didn't get them all.

"Where am I going to live?" he asks, suddenly. He wants to go back, but he doesn't. He wants to go home, but… he can't.

"Masumi lives out of the compound," Hama says. "We bought the apartment beside her and knocked the wall down in the kitchen, so you can stay there."

"Yeah, I have a few rules, but other than that, go crazy," Masumi says. "I work weird hours, and sometimes you'll find me on the couch."

"Don't wake her up, she's a poison mistress and likes to use senbon in the morning," Hama warns him.

"Least he doesn't have to put up with OCD schedules." Masumi shoots back, a smirk on her face. "I tend to have supper break at five on days I work- come to the office and we can go out for supper, other then that… if I hear you're not in bed by ten, I'll hunt you down and use a few containment seals on you to keep you in bed." She teases, and Sasuke can't help the snort, as he realizes how much like his aunts Masumi was acting like- the ones who worked in the police force.

It's a bit comforting.

"Oh, and my lab is off limits." Masumi says, nodding. "My poisons are deadly, and some are experimental. There is a seal on the door to keep it locked, but if I'm in there they aren't, so please don't go in."

"I won't," Sasuke says, staring at his cousins, and drinking in Hama's eyes, her tear drop eyes.

Masumi has the Uchiha chin, and it's comforting to stare at it.

Itachi… that man didn't win.

It feels good.

-0-

Masumi stands in her bathroom, her hair loose and around her face. She stares at herself in the mirror and tries to convince herself that nothing bad will happen with Sasuke in her house.

She's always been a liar.

Masumi sighs, as she pulls her hair up, and puts it in the customary bun.

Sasuke went to bed at nine, after doing his homework, and practicing. Masumi had to threaten him to get him to take a supper break. He went right back to it.

That's not healthy, and the mother in her snarls, wanting to know why none of the agents assigned to him did anything, wants to know what AnBu was thinking.

"Fuck everything." She announces as she shoves the sticks into place and leaves the bathroom. The AnBu agents assigned to the case- to take care of it when the detectives get tied up in other work- are coming today to see her, and she needs to go there. Sasuke has school himself, and she needs to get him there.

Masumi heads to the kitchen where Sasuke is eating breakfast. Cereal- Masumi's never been much of a cook. The bento Sasuke would be taking had gotten was made by Hama- she had made enough for the week.

"No tea?" Masumi asks, startled by the realization he hadn't gotten any.

"I don't know how to make it." Sasuke answers, "I know how to make tea with tea bags, but-"

"I don't have any." Masumi says, nodding. She goes to the kettle- already on and with water. Calmly, she turns on the stove, and digs into the cupboard she set aside for tea. "What are you doing in class today?"

"Sparring," Sasuke mutters, not much of a morning person.

She understands that.

"So… a tea for energy." Masumi nodding as she pulls out not the special tea, but another blend the Chano clan had created. "I'll teach you how to make proper tea later." She rubs her eyes tiredly.

"Will you teach me any jutsu?" Sasuke asks as he stares at his 'cousin'.

"… Maybe." Masumi hums. "I'm a poison mistress primarily, but I know some useful jutsu I use in a pinch."

"…Why aren't you an assassin then?" Sasuke asks, the question having been annoying him since she told him she used poisons.

"I was part of the assassination core for a while, trained by the Panther herself, but… I decided to change my goals in life."

She's always been a liar.

"Panther?" Sasuke asks, and Masumi jerks, eyes wide, before a grin spreads across her face.

"Oh, she's a legend- the longest lasting assassin in the core for the past decade." Masumi gets the cups ready, chatting about her old teacher.

It's surprisingly domestic, really.

Masumi pulls out her own breakfast, eating it as they let the tea seep.

"I currently have a huge case going on, so if you want to come by the station around… 5:30 we can go get supper." Masumi offers, as they finish their food and tea.

"Sure," Sasuke says, not really sure what to say, as they sip the last of the tea. They sit across from one another, trying to think of what to say to one another.

 _And now, it's awkward._ Masumi muses as loud crashing sounds come from the hallway.

"YOSH-" _oh, fuck no._ Masumi thinks as she stands and heads to the door, wrenching it open to find a man dressed in a green jumpsuit outside the door, a grin on his face. "Ah! Good Morning Chano-san!" he cheered at her, as she felt her shoulders slump.

"Maito-san. I didn't know you were coming back today." She responds eyes tired. He laughs.

"Ah, yes! My Mission Was Completed With Haste!" Gai grins at her and looks towards Sasuke in the room. "Ah! I see you have company!"

"My clan was awarded the Guardianship of Uchiha Sasuke," Masumi says bluntly, debating how long she had to put up with the green. And the yelling.

And Gai in general honestly.

Maito Gai is a tall man- an inch shorter then Masumi, but tall, with his features mostly Asain, a hint of Scandinavian in the shape of his eyes. Masumi has been his neighbor for three years.

She is not a fan.

"OH! CHANO-SAN!" Gai wraps his arms around her and squeezes. Masumi nearly goes for the hidden senbon in her sleeve but forces herself to stop. "HOW KIND OF YOU TO OPEN YOUR HEART AND HOME!"

"Thank you Maito-san." Masumi sighs deeply.

She doesn't hate him. Gai is a bit of fresh air really, a bright spot in the world.

It's just that he's so… loud. And he likes huge hugs, and sometimes his hand lands on her neck, and…

She really doesn't like people touching her neck much. It's why she doesn't wear necklaces, and why all of her shirts have a loose neckline.

"Ah, I Must Do My Twenty Laps Before I Report To The Hokage!" Gai says, letting her go. "Good Day Chano-San!" he takes off, leaving Masumi and Sasuke in the apartment.

"…He's our neighbor?" Sasuke asks. Masumi snorts.

"He is- he's also the man with the highest kill count in the village." Sasuke jerks and Masumi grins a little evilly. "The more powerful a ninja is, the odder they are."

"…The Hokage isn't odd." Sasuke protests and Masumi cackles at him.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun, you have a lot to learn."

His pout, Masumi decides as she gets Sasuke his bento and sends him off, is adorable. She tells him so and he scowls.

That's even cuter.

It's with a good mood she leaves for work, snickering under her breath as she makes her way to the station, where she will be meeting the agents.

Her good mood lasts until she spotted the Hokage with two men in front of the station. One had a mask and silver hair, the other wore all green.

"…Someone hates me up there." She groans to herself, as she gets herself ready for this day.

* * *

Shorter then normal, but that's because I couldn't add anymore without the chapter feeling off to me. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this! And yes, we meet the agents, and learn a bit more about Masumi.

Also, we meet her neighbour, who I had decided was Gai ages ago. I regret nothing about this choice.

Nothing.

Review Please!


	6. Case File 1 IV

**Title:** Untraveled Road

 **Summary:** Masumi just wanted to keep her head down. She had no interest in changing the story, and being a detective was her way out. But when she ended upon the case for missing kids, plus with Naruto clinging to her like a burr, she might have no other choice. SI OC

* * *

Maito Gai has been living next to Chano Masumi for the past few years. She's polite, a bit distant and has terrifying aim when she's sleep deprived. There have been many times when he disturbed her, leading to her charging out of her apartment throwing senbon. He later learned she sleeps on the couch at times if she's especially exhausted. It doesn't change how he goes about his day though. He simply uses it as training.

He's grown fond of the woman since they first met, though they barely speak other than the occasional 'hello' or threat against his person when she's tired. In a way, she reminds him of Kakashi, a bit aloof from the rest of the village, with something hidden in the back of her eyes.

He isn't sure what it is, but he trusts her anyway. She acts like a woman with a secret but who doesn't have secrets? If he took offence, he would be a hypocrite.

"So, Maito-san and Hatake-san are the ANBU assigned to the case?" she asks, walking up to them, her eyes sharp. Gai takes the moment to study her as the Hokage answers in an affirmative. He never has bothered before, the woman more relaxed when she's coming out of her apartment, and even facing him she's somewhat relaxed. But out in the open, it's a different story.

She's wearing the uniform of the military police- a pair of black pants, a gray flak jacket, and a standard blue shirt. Her trench coat is detective issue and she has weapons concealed everywhere.

She walks with light steps and like a ghost. Assassin. His eyes go back to her and give a further look. Loose stance, legs slightly bent, her weapons are in easy reach, she's wearing clothes that can tear easily if grabbed.

She walks with her body straight, so not Seduction Corp Assassin. Her eyes barely move, and she's in full control of her body. She's also a poison mistress Gai knows. It takes a second longer to figure the rest out before he files it away.

He knows what happened, and he doesn't blame the _Dokun'na_ for leaving after that mission.

He might have left to.

"I Am Pleased We Will Be Working Together!" Gai cheers as Kakashi hmms, reading his book. "My Hip Rival! Do You Not Wish To Say Something To Masumi-san!?"

"Did you say something Gai?" Kakashi asked, and Gai instantly flies into his usual way of reacting.

Masumi sighs and places a hand on her face, letting out a long breath.

"You hate me, don't you?" she asks the Hokage as the two eternal rivals bicker… or Gai whines and Kakashi ignores him.

"Kakashi's ninken are excellent trackers, and Gai is an infiltration master." The Hokage says pleasantly. Masumi raises an eyebrow at that. She isn't stupid- Gai can be serious she knows. She just never expected he was an infiltration master- though it does make sense. He's a master at bodylanguage after all. "They are the best choices to assist you in this endeavor. " Masumi just sighs and breaks up the slight 'fight'. Both turn to her and she nods.

"Alright, nice to meet you both. Hokage-sama, I can take it from here." She nods to the Hokage who leaves them, the two male ninja looking at Masumi, who witholds her pleasure at being so much taller then they are with the ease of practice. "Before we get started, I'm going to give you a quick rundown of the situation boys," Masumi announces, leading the way into the building. Akatsuki and Sugi are already in, looking through files. Masumi frowns as she sees them.

"Isn't Fusao supposed to be in?" she asks.

"Murder case cropped up- looks pretty cut and dry so he took it." Akatsuki answers, looking up and spotting the men behind his boss. His eyes grow hard as he looks them over. Kakashi eyes him as well, his lone eye firm. Masumi pointedly ignores it.

"Children had been going missing ever since Konoha was founded." She tells the ANBU agents, who snap to attention. "Two hundred since the beginning, and about fifty-two cases- twenty-two of them orphans- in the last thirty-five years. Most are clan children, simply gone from their beds." She motions to the map they still had up, the pins standing out. She frowns as she spots a few pins in the map- the ones marking orphans.

They… they seem off. But she moved them already, right?

"How are you certain it isn't all lone kidnappings?" Gai asks, his voice serious as he goes over to inspect the map.

"There was a genjutsu on the vault where they put the files- directed at the Sharingan, convincing people nothing was wrong," Masumi says as she grabs the file someone had started- spiky writing suggests Sugi was the one who did so, much to Masumi's relief.

Sugi is the best profiler in Konoha, Masumi trusts her to come up with the best direction.

"How old was the genjutsu, did anyone check?" Kakashi asks next, his laid back manner dropped much like Gai's 'youthfulness'.

"More than fifty years," Akatsuki voices, as he pulls out the report. "We got a Hyuuga to look it over- but it's old as balls." Kakashi looks at him again, and Masumi coughs.

"Akatsuki is not his father, just like you aren't yours." It's a bit dead silent for a second.

"…I understand." Kakashi says, but still gives Akatsuki a look, which he scowls at angrily. Sugi makes a noise and speaks up next, looking confused but wanting to draw attention away from Akatsuki. Not many actually know much about the man, Masumi only knowing what she did about Akatsuki's father from his files.

Akatsuki's father had been a spy for Grass and had been the one to send the information about Hatake Sakumo's mission to Grass. He was caught by T&I, while his wife- Akatsuki's mother- was killed in the capture. Akatsuki had been made into an orphan and his remaining family refused to have him. In the end, he was sent to an orphanage.

He entered the police force hoping to escape the stigma of his father- and Masumi refuses to let anyone look down upon him at all.

"Not many people have the in-depth knowledge of the Uchiha clan to pull off a genjutsu like this," Sugi says, her voice stiff and hard, eyeing the people in front of her. She felt like she was back home, trying to explain why she was refusing the betrothal contract they had tried to set up for her.

"They may not even be alive anymore," Gai says as he begins to mess with some pins. "These are a bit off."

"I just fixed them." Masumi sighs but lets it happen. She'll look them over more closely later. "It's true- and if then, we're looking at a group." She frowns, as she leans on her desk. "Who was the most recent?"

"A girl from the Third District- near _The Ninja Woman_ ," Sugi says, grabbing the file off her desk and opening it. "It happened about three weeks ago- we put Hanako on the case but she says she never really found anything but signs of the girl running off… strange. Bright girl, under contract for the Academy."

"Might be the reason she ran if she did." Masumi muses. Contracts are a thing she hates in Konoha. Parents could pledge their child to the shinobi forces and get money for it. She knows of a few families who just keep having kids so they can place them under contracts. She's sharply reminded of Zevran in Leliana's life, being sold to the Crows for a measly few coins.

"Might be," Sugi agrees as she studies it. "But… the contract was bought out by the Inuzuka clan. The girl, Yuki, is third highest in the class… or was. She herself agreed to a marriage contract with the clan, set after she makes chunnin. She wants to be a ninja- the contract was signed when she was six, to help her mother take care of her siblings after her father died…"

"So, it wasn't a contract she was born under… she wouldn't run if she agreed to the new terms… how old is she?" Masumi asks.

"Eight." Sugi replies. "Her mother recently died, and she is now struggling to take care of her siblings." Masumi grimaced.

"Change that- she most likely agreed to the new contract so she can protect her siblings… but that still doesn't seem right." Masumi scratched her facial scar, thinking deeply.

"Her siblings are well?" Gai asks in a concerned tone.

"Yes, the Inuzuka are taking care of them." Sugi answers. Masumi frowns, trying to think.

Why would a young girl who obviously greatly loves her family run away from them? She could have known the Inuzuka would always help pups in need but…

"She also fits the profile of the orphans going missing in the past thirty-two years," Akatsuki says.

"Profile?" asks Masumi, stunned. She had been planning on doing that…

"I did it last night," Sugi answers, "I figured with the whole 'you are now the Uchiha's guardian' thing, you might need a break."

"Thanks," Masumi replies to that, jerking her head to the conference room. "Come on, we'll go sit down. Do you two want to read the files?" she asks Kakashi and Gai.

"It would help." Kakashi agrees. "But I'd rather discuss the profiles."

"I Agree!" Gai says grinning and he's a bit lighter now. Masumi's glad.

It was weird seeing a serious Gai.

"Profile for the orphans is basically two parts." Sugi begins when they are all sitting down. Masumi had stopped to commandeer the tea kettle, unsealing a box from a seal she had on a leather band around her wrist.

She's always been very good at the 'long night/lots of work' version of the secret tea. They most likely would need it.

"One- intelligent kids, usually under contract or in a shitty situation," Sugi says, pulling out the files she had decided on. "Out of the twenty-two, nineteen were in the Academy- all in the higher ranks."

"Upper or lower classes?" Masumi asks. It isn't common knowledge, that the classes were separated by worth. Most contract academy students were placed in the lower classes, to be turned into genin corp ninja or chunnin corp. They weren't essential, weren't worth anything. Most civilian born children were placed there as well.

There are exceptions, though, the most obvious one being Namikaze Minato, an orphan placed right into the high ranking class without having to go through the lower class- his genius was obvious ever at a young age.

"All but ten were lower- about to be switched for upper when they went missing," Akatsuki speaks up, as they all shuffle files.

"All were under the age of nine- most around five or six. Yuki is one of the older ones." Sugi goes over to the wall where a dry-erase board sits, and begins to write down names.

"Let's focus on the past year," Masumi offers. "Yuki is the most recent?"

"Yes, three weeks ago…" Sugi writes Yuki down in a large character. "Around a month ago I believe… wasn't it that boy by the bar a street down from _The Ninja Woman?"_ Akatsuki grabs a file and looks into it.

"Yes- Arashi. He went missing next to the bar known as _Trees and Leaves_ ," Akatsuki flips through the file, frowning. "He was about to enter the academy when he was kidnapped. He wasn't under contract. Age five, he was a smart child- believed to be a bastard Nara actually."

"Should he be counted as a clan kid then?" Kakashi asks, looking through some of the older files. Gai copies him, reading through a file on some of the first missing children.

"No- it was only a rumor, and he was an orphan." Akatsuki picks up another set as Sugi writes Arashi on the board as well. **"** Around six months ago, two kids went missing. Twins- a boy named Hikaru and a girl named Haruhi." Masumi holds back her snicker at the names.

Sometimes she wonders if there's anyone else out there like her.

"Both in the academy- age six. Both occupying the top spots of the lower class, about to be moved up to the upper. Under contracts set up before their birth- their mother ran off with all the money and left them with their father who was murdered when they were four." Masumi frowns as she flips through the files, Sugi writing down the next two names. "No one else has gone missing in the past year." Silence reigns for a few minutes as everyone reads the files quickly.

"Alright, and what is the pattern for the clan kids?"

"There's two- one resembles the orphan one, so we'll be sliding them into that pile." Sugi offers up. "The other though is young children- under two usually but a few were four or three- going missing. Their parents tended to be extremely strong shinobi." Sugi bites her lip and looks a bit nervous. "… Senju Tsunade was one who had her child taken." Everyone freezes and they all turn to stare at Sugi. "It was a girl, and her father was Tsunade-sama's fiancé. She was named… Natsumi it seems."

"Fuck," Masumi says, covering her face. "This… shit son of a goddamn motherfucking asshole cocksucker!" she gets up and storms to the brewing tea, pouring herself a very large mug and draining it in a second.

"…That's one way to put it." Akatsuki says dryly. Masumi just sighs and leans back against the table.

"How long ago?"

"Around… twenty-four years? No, wait… twenty-six. The girl was almost two when she went missing." Akatsuki says as he goes through the file he grabbed from Sugi.

"It's mostly children with extremely strong parents, but there are a fair few simply from clans," Sugi says. Masumi closes her eyes and lets out a long breath.

"Alright, we'll focus on the new cases first." She decides. "Yuki is the most recent of all?"

"Yes- the last child that went missing like the pattern was two years ago." No one brought up that he was probably dead if the kidnapper was a killer.

"Alright, Hatake, you're with me. We'll get a good look at where she had been staying. Akatsuki, Maito, you two are on Arashi's case. Sugi, wait here until Fusao comes back, then go after the twins." She pours herself more tea and drinks it down.

This will be a long day.

-0-

"Nothing to smell Kakashi," Pakkun tells his summoner as they prowl around the small apartment Yuki and her siblings had lived in, near the strip club. Yuki had vanished in a second from the apartment, her younger brother having called the detectives when she didn't show up in three days. "I've got the girl's scent, but it vanishes here." The pug nods to the window, and Kakashi nods.

"Teleportation or _Shunshin_ then." He tells the woman who is looking around. No one had bought the apartment, and the kids are living with the Inuzuka now.

"…Hanako says she used the _Furikaerimasu jutsu_ … but she didn't see anything." Masumi frowns, and her hands suddenly fly to make hand seals. " _Himitsu tantei āto: Furikaerimasu jutsu!"_ A ghostly chakra single appears, showing itself walking around, and then vanishing right in front of the window where another single had been. "Shit."

"What was that?" Kakashi asks in surprise.

"The 'Look Back' jutsu." Masumi answers. "Hanako… she said she used it." It plays on Masumi's mind a bit before she shakes it off. She trusts Hanako, she knows the woman well. "Hanako's never had the right knack with the jutsu, she probably missed a fair bit of it." The poison mistress says before she writes down her observations. "Do your dogs have a good hold of the scent?"

"Yeah, we do." Pakkun states. Masumi jumps a bit and blushes. She's not used to summons- she can't summon any herself and well… dogs.

Being combined with one by your own father puts a bit of a dampener on the idea of liking them.

"Alright, let's go out and look through the district a bit."

It takes most of the afternoon, but neither find anything really, other than Masumi having to arrest three people for stealing.

"If we could use the ANBU-"

"No," Masumi states as they walk back to the office, having dropped the thieves off at the local police station, headed by mostly Inuzuka's now. "This is a police matter Hatake."

"Maah, but it could go by much smoother," Kakashi says, pulling out his book. Masumi sighs.

"No. This… this is a matter for the police. When we find the people responsible we might call in ANBU then, but until then, it's us and us alone." Her voice is firm as she speaks.

This is the chance to show how the agency is still strong, it's still there for the people. If she lets ANBU mess with it, she'll never prove her worth.

She needs this to be a police matter.

"Maah, if you say so," Kakashi says, studying the woman. She's tall- very tall. Her facial scar is prominent on her face and her hair is tightly tied up. He noticed her moments mimic assassins earlier, and he knows she used to be ANBU.

He wonders why she left. Most never leave, and if they do they get recycled back into the fold sooner or later.

He walks with her to the office, where a black haired boy is waiting.

"Ah, Sasuke!" the woman says before she nods, checking the sun's position. "Ah, it is 5:30 now… alright, let's go get some food!" she smiles cheerfully. "Hatake, I'll be back in an hour, go for break if you need to."

"I'll be alright Chano." He replies, dropping the honorifics like she is. Ninja rarely use them with comrades anyway, preferring to use them for stronger ninja or for civilians.

Masumi smiles and nods, leading her ward away.

"How was the academy?" she asks. Sasuke shrugs.

"Fine. I had to fight the dead-last because he wouldn't shut up." Masumi hums, frowning.

"Huh, so you fought your future teammate."

"What?!" Masumi has to withhold her snickers at his shocked and horrified face- they're too cute.

"The top shinobi and top kunoichi are always placed with the dead-last to even out the teams. A common example is the Sannin." Masumi explains as she leads Sasuke to the ramen shop, not really thinking about it as she does so. "Orochimaru and Tsunade-sama were the top students while Jiraiya-sama was dead last. However, they became three of the most legendary ninja from Konoha."

"How can a dead-last become a legendary ninja?" Sasuke asks his guardian.

"Hard work, determination, and stubbornness. I was top kunoichi in my class, and our dead-last…" Masumi nearly stops but plows on. "He was a moron of the highest degree. But he was a hard worker. He worked his fucking ass off… and uh…" Masumi blushes, rubbing the back of her neck. Influence from Tori made her prone to swearing. She normally tries to keep her language clean around kids but slips sometimes. "You can swear in front of me twice without me shoving soap in your mouth." She decides, nodding to Sasuke who blinks in surprise. "Anyway, Ken ended up in ANBU with me and was a great teammate. Academy rankings really don't mean much when you enter the ninja world. In fact, the top shinobi ended up dead on our first mission. He thought he was invincible or some ashes thing like that." They reach the ramen stand and Masumi lifts the curtains, stopping when she spots Naruto.

 _Okay, I have got to do something about my memory._

"Masumi-nee!" Naruto cheers as Chizu pipes up, the girl having been spending time with Naruto, "Auntie Masumi!" They both stop when they spot Sasuke.

"Dobe, Shikamaru-san." Sasuke says dryly, before stopping and frowning, eyeing Chizu.

"Don't call people names, it's asking to get called one yourself," Masumi tells Sasuke as she smiles at Naruto and Chizu. "Naruto-kun, Chizu-chan, this is my ward, Sasuke-kun."

"Nice to meet you Sasuke-kun!" Chizu chirps happily, smiling after a second of stunned disbelief. Naruto scowls, a sad look crossing his face.

"Masumi-nee, ah was… I was wondering." Naruto corrects himself, frowning. Masumi ruffles his hair as she sits down, Sasuke sitting next to her.

"Don't worry Naruto, you'll get there."

"Thanks!" Naruto says, perking right up. He flashes a look at Sasuke that Masumi doesn't notice, a smug look while Sasuke scowls. "I was wondering, how do you become a detective?" Masumi hums, as Teuchi comes forward.

"Ah, Chano-san!" the ramen shop owner says, smiling. "What can I get you?"

"Miso with shrimp please," Masumi says, smiling. Sasuke asks for a plain salt ramen as Masumi answers Naruto's question. "Well, you can go two ways; become an apprentice right out of the academy, or you can take a test while chunnin or higher. After that, you get trained to use the basic jutsu of the Detectives." Masumi shrugs. "It's pretty simple really.

"If you go the chunnin way, can ya… you still be Hokage?" Naruto asks. Masumi laughs.

"Well, you need to be pretty tough to be Hokage Naruto-kun. I don't leave the village and as such don't get into situations that can make me Hokage." Masumi tells him. "You need a name for yourself before they let you become Hokage." Naruto nods, and Sasuke speaks up next.

"How did your case go Masumi… Masumi-nee." Masumi blinks, and looks at him in surprise. She doesn't notice Naruto's enraged look, but Chizu does, and the girl sighs under her breath.

"It's… well, it's not solved yet. I can't tell you much, but it might be the biggest case in Konoha's history." Masumi tells them. "We were searching for clues today, but found nothing so far." She sighs and shakes her head.

"You'll figure it out Auntie!" Chizu says happily. "Mama says she's never seen anyone as strong as you." Masumi laughs and ruffles the girl's hair.

"Thanks Chizu-chan." The girl smiles, and Sasuke glares as their food is placed in front of them. "Where is your mom?" Chizu shrugs.

"Don't know. She said something about a mission I think." Masumi frowns. Hanako had spoken about hanging out with Chizu today, but it seems like she hadn't. Strange… She probably got roped into some Clan stuff. Masumi nods at the thought and finishes her food.

"How long will you be working still?" Sasuke asks her.

"About an hour," Masumi responds. "We'll be talking about what we found and trying to figure out possible clues. I'll be home before eight… we can spar if you want?" She offers and Sasuke perks right up- or as much as he would even do so. He nods and Masumi chuckles, ruffling his hair. She checks the clock on the wall and nods. Half an hour or so to go.

"Hn," Sasuke grunts at the ruffle. They finish their food, Masumi responding to questions from the kids.

"Hey, canya… can you tell me another cool chakra trick?!" Naruto asks hopefully. He shoots a look at Sasuke full of smugness as Masumi raises an eyebrow.

"Can you walk up a tree yet?" Naruto blushes, and shakes his head. Sasuke's scowl turns into a smirk. "Well… teach Sasuke-kun." She pats Sasuke on the head. "Teaching can be just as much as a motivator as anything."

"Why do ah haveta teach da teme!?" Naruto complains. Masumi ignores the insult- Sasuke had started it- and shrugs.

"He's top shinobi- he'll be placed with the dead-last, which I gather is you." She doesn't mention they would end up together no matter what- the Sharingan can control a biju and Sasuke does have one, plus they would be placed with Kakashi because of the same thing. "So, you two should get to know one another better!" she smiles and leaves, listening to the outrage yelling.

Masumi withholds her snicker. Leliana used to love to do that when she was a kid. She still remembers the panty incident.

Masumi whistles a tune to herself as she walks, stopping to laugh at herself when she realizes what it is.

"The Shepard's lost, and his home is far." She sings the hymn as she walks, hands in her pockets.

Sometimes, it was nice to remember.

-0-

"I will fucking skin the fucker alive and roast him over a goddamn fucking fire." Masumi declares to herself, throwing her arms up into the air with a scowl as they fail to make any connections at all. "Ugh, fuck!"

"How many times can she swear?" Kakashi asks the Yamanaka woman who is watching her boss in amusement.

"Oh, she can get really creative." Sugi laughs, smiling to herself as she listens to the curses pouring out of Masumi's mouth. Gai is listening with a bit of a stunned look on his face.

He never expected her to act like this!

"Fuck all this fucking shit." Masumi declares, sighing. "I'm off. Sugi, you're on night shift?" she asks the Yamanaka who nods. "Alright, keep your ears posted. Hatake, Maito, you two going to poke around more?"

"But Of Course Chano-San!" Gai cheers. Kakashi hums, reading his book now and Masumi just sighs.

But as she gets up, the door opens and Hama steps into the office, looking harried.

"Masumi!" she cries. Masumi stands up in worry.

"Hama, what's wrong?!" Hama storms up to her and glares. Masumi takes a slight step back. One advantage of her height had always been that she was rarely intimidated.

Hama was her height though, and she's probably the most terrifying person Masumi knows.

"You taught Sasuke how to walk up trees!" she huffs. "Or I assume so! He's currently trying to climb trees without chakra and refuses to go back to your apartment!"

"It's not nine yet though-" Mausmi begins.

"I don't care! He shouldn't be exhausting himself and you know this Masumi!"

"He's a smart kid, he won't work himself into exhaustion-"

"CHANO MASUMI! YOU GO AND GET THAT BOY OR SO HELP ME!" Masumi scurries off, leaving her sister to glare after her.

"…Does that happen often?" Kakashi asks Sugi, who shakes her head.

"Last time it was when the boss got injured. She was worse."

"Ah."

"AH!" Gai exclaims. "WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DISPLAY!" he cheers at Hama who appears taken aback. "Greetings Youthful Blossom! I Am Maito Gai!" he does a few poses, leaving Hama blinking.

"…Pleasure. Chano Hama." She nods to Gai who beams back. "Now, I'm going to make sure my sister listens and doesn't let him continue." She leaves in a more collected manner, the remaining ninja staring after her.

"…I'm feeling sorry for Chano."

"Eh, you get used to it Hatake."

At the park, Masumi gets Sasuke to stop, by offering to start the spar. She has a bad feeling Hama still won't be pleased though as she is lead to a training ground, Chizu and Naruto following curiously.

Yeah, bad feeling is probably right... oh well. She promised Sasuke after all.

* * *

The spar will take place next chapter, I just felt that it seemed like to much to add to this one. I like where I ended it. I'm also stating here:

Masumi seems over powered. However, she's Twenty-four, and a special jonin. She's no slouch and has two past lives that help her in her job. She was a genin during the war, she graduated before the others because she's older. She went into ANBU when Obito and Rin became chunnin and she didn't leave until three-four years before the current time in the story.

Stop messaging me about it, alright? I get it- but I have a plan, okay?

JUTSU LIBRARY:

Google translate puts: Secret Detective Art as _Himitsu tantei āto_ while 'Look Back' is _Furikaerimasu._ Basically, it calls up chakra singles. The hand seals show how far back you want to look back- but you can't do it over two months old. It's to old then, and can't pick anything up at all.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Review please!


	7. Case File 1 V

Title: Untraveled Road

Summary: Masumi just wanted to keep her head down. She had no interest in changing the story, and being a detective was her way out. But when she ended up on the case for missing kids, plus with Naruto clinging to her like a burr, she might have no other choice. SI OC

* * *

When Sasuke eagerly accepted the spar, he honestly hadn't really thought about it. He is the top shinobi after all, he's skilled and he can hold his own against his teachers. Masumi may be a detective and a higher-rank, but he looked into her bingo book she keeps on the shelf. She's listed as a C-Rank shinobi, her skills really only in poison.

He can beat her easily.

Of course… he didn't really think it through.

One second and then she's moving towards him, her leg slamming out into his gut. He lets out a stunned breath as she grabs his arms and turns, throwing him away from her towards the trees.

He manages to turn himself in mid-air and push off against the tree he nearly crashes into, using it to throw himself at her, yanking out a kunai.

But she's moved, grabbing him and throwing him to the ground, landing on his back to hold him down.

"…Oh, fuck- yes, you can use that one to- ashes! Sorry Sasuke." Masumi stands and laughs, rubbing the back of her neck. Sasuke lets out a breath in shock. "Forgot you're an academy student, I need to go easy on you."

…Well, he feels a bit ridiculous now.

"THAT'S SO COOL!" Naruto cheers loudly and Sasuke holds back his growl. "YA BEAT DA TEME!"

"I'm old Naruto, and a higher rank." Masumi points out as she helps Sasuke up off the ground.

"But da teme can hold 'is own in da academy agains' da teachers… I mean-" Masumi laughs, shaking her head.

"No, I get it. But… they're your teachers. They adjust their skills so they're stronger then you so you get a workout." Masumi says chuckling.

Sasuke growls angrily.

"Again." He is not weak, he can do this.

"Alright, I'll adjust… um… high D I think…" she rubs the back of her neck embarrassed as Hama runs towards them "Great."

"MASUMI!" Hama yells, looking furious. "I thought I said-"

"Hama, we're training!" Masumi says.

"But he's been-" Masumi quickly goes over and pulls Hama away to talk, much to Sasuke's relief. He has a feeling he knows what Hama wishes to say and doesn't want to hear it.

"Hama, for fuck's sake, you can't do this." Masumi states firmly towards her sister once they're out of the way. "I'm Sasuke's guardian, I'm the one who makes the rules."

"He's a child!" Hama snaps back angrily. "And you need-"

"Hama, he's an academy student. Some sparring with me won't hurt- yes I have to remember to take it easy on him but it can help him more than anything else." Masumi shakes her head at Hama's look.

"I worked my ass off to get him to be a ward of our clan, you can't just-" Hama begins hotly, fury in her throat that her sister would refuse to listen. Masumi is a smart woman, a great shinobi, but she needs guidance in this. She doesn't know kids- sure, Hama doesn't either, but she at least knows what you can and can't do!

"I can, and I will." Masumi interrupts. "Sasuke is my ward- not yours. Yes, he's a ward of the clan, but I'm the shinobi here. I'm the one who knows how to raise a shinobi kid."

"You never sparred with baa-chan, and you-" Hama snarls, but Masumi snorts, looking at her pityingly.

"Hama, I did. I trained my ass off, I ran around doing stupid shit all the time and baa-chan beat me into the ground. It's how you learn." Hama pouts, anger in her eyes. "I get that you want to help, and I accept it, but… you aren't a shinobi. You're a civilian- you don't know my life." Hama glares at Masumi who doesn't flinch.

Hama is terrifying, Masumi admits it, but she has no right to be trying to butt into how Masumi raises Sasuke. None at all.

"Fine then, I'll just go." Hama snaps and leaves, leaving Masumi to stare after her before she shakes her head and turns to go and spar some more with Sasuke.

It's painful.

Not the Hama situation, though that sucks too, but Sasuke's sparring… Ugh.

"Sasuke, I honestly want to go and murder your instructors." Masumi says, head in her hands as she sits on Sasuke's back. "I saw thirteen ways to kill you in the first thirty seconds."

"Hn," Sasuke grunts angrily.

"Let's try again." Masumi sighs, getting up. She pointedly ignores Naruto's laughing from the side. She waits, and Sasuke throws a fireball at her, which she dodges and uses her own elemental jutsu to toss a water ball at Sasuke which he gets soaked by.

 _Wasn't he like… good in the anime?_ Masumi wonders as Sasuke splutters, looking like a drowned rat. His hair is all plastered down and he looks like he might… oh, fuck.

 _He's eight. Oh fuck, I'm really bad at this._ Masumi winces, rubbing the back of her neck.

Tori had never held her child, Nina had been a child. Leliana had been the only one to be a mother, but even then, her son had been ten when Leliana and Kallian had adopted him.

Masumi realizes she might not be that good with kids as she thought, and wishes she didn't send Hama away, even if Masumi had been right in a way.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun… let's go home." Masumi says as she walks forward and pats his shoulder. Sasuke glares but Masumi refuses to listen and keeps going towards Naruto and Chizu. "Come on you two, we'll drop you off." She tells the kids, Sasuke coming up behind her.

"Ya don' need ta do 'at." Naruto protests, surprised but Masumi ignores him and the four go through Konoha, Chizu chatting about playing ninja with Naruto the next day and Sasuke listening in.

The Nara compound looms in front of them when Hanako appears down the street, Shikaku coming up behind her. The Nara woman takes a minute and freezes, eyes wide as she looks at her daughter, her eyes darting to the side.

"Chizu-chan!" Hanako cries out, running forward to hug the girl. Masumi grins but falters. Chizu is looking… uncomfortable. Masumi blinks and then her grin is back.

Oh, she's embarrassed by being hugged in front of her friends!

"I'm so sorry honey, Shikaku-sama wanted a hand and I was the only Nara shinobi available!" Hanako says, pouting. Shikaku looks at them with a pained expression. Chizu is about to turn when Hanako hugs her even tighter. "I'm so sorry our day was cut short!" Shikaku leaves quickly, and Masumi grimaces.

She feels for the man. Hanako obviously tries to limit the pain, but it still must pain him.

"Thanks for looking after her boss!" Hanako says, smiling. She takes off, chatting with her daughter as Masumi leads Naruto and Sasuke to Naruto's apartment.

She leads them through Third District, ignoring Sasuke's discomfort as Naruto looks nervous. She stops at the building Naruto indicates is his own, staring.

It's a building with cracked stone, the windows unwashed and the front step covered in dirt. She frowns, and leads the way in, despite Naruto's appeals for her to stop.

She wants to snarl as she eyes the hallway. The wallpaper- a disgusting floral print- peels like an orange, the smell of urine and unwashed humans seeped into the building.

"Your apartment is at the top, right?" she asks Naruto.

"Yeah, bu' ya-" Masumi ignores him, leading the boys up further and further until they reach the top floor.

It's even worse- the wallpaper shredded, the smell gag-worthy, and graffiti paints the hall. Masumi ignores the words as Sasuke takes a breath in horror at some of them. Naruto is looking down, ashamed.

"… Fuck all of the flying fucks." Masumi growls, before she makes Naruto open his door for her, her anger strained from what she had seen.

He's a child, she understands that he isn't the best at cleaning, but she can tell some of his appliances don't work. They're cracked with age and held together with duct tape, stains on the front clear as day. The lone couch she sees is battered and bruised, with haphazard patches and stitching covering it. She bares her teeth in anger as she eyes the lone table, with one chair.

"It'sa bit of a mess, bu' ah can c'ean it up!" Naruto begins as Masumi goes to the sink- battered and disgusting with food still stuck to it- and turns on the water. It comes out and Masumi is at least relieved it's clean. She looks around a bit more, and she sighs.

It's a typical orphan genin apartment honestly. She's been in a few, like when… no, not going there, not now. Genin don't tend to earn enough their first few years, and they don't often end up with nice furniture in their apartments for a long time. The apartment is enough for a genin, so anyone can argue that it's fine for him, ignoring the fact he's eight.

"Naruto…" she sighs lowly as he looks up at her. "My apartment is open, alright? If you need it." She looks to the hallway and feels a bit of satisfaction that the morons who graffiti the walls are probably to afraid of him to try and break in.

"Thanks." Naruto offers in a tiny voice and Sasuke simply grunts, looking annoyed.

After passing the address to Naruto, Masumi leaves with Sasuke, feeling sick.

Naruto is eight. He shouldn't be alone. He shouldn't… but no, she can't, she's already playing with the future too much, she needs to take a step back. She needs to make sure everything runs normally, she can't change the future, she can't.

Masumi ignores the tiny voice telling her she already has.

-0-

Yamanaka Sugi, Su to her beautiful, kind, lovely, perfect, amazing and all around fantastic wife, isn't the type of person to take surprises well.

Growing up in a family of mind-readers, Sugi has honed her own bloodline limit to pick up on surface thoughts around her when she bothers to activate it. It causes her quite the pain and she rather prefers not to use it, so she never bothered to tell anyone.

Well, other than the clan head and her parents.

She wishes she never told them.

Sugi always knew she was a lesbian, ever since she was thirteen and caught an eyeful of her sensei changing in front of her. She fully accepted herself and forgot about it really until she was fifteen, and they made a fuss over her marrying Inoichi, her fourth cousin, and heir to the clan.

Her blunt coming out made the former head, Inoichi's father, drop the pursuit. Her parents… well, the Yamanaka clan was one of the most accepting in the village. However, they still were furious she wouldn't even consider marrying Inoichi to pass on her genes.

Sugi's skill with her talent came in useful when she causally read her family's minds and realized their anger stemmed from the wish to be part of the head family. Angry, Sugi refused to even simply carry a child for Inoichi and instead left her family home and the clan compound.

She later met Toki and happily settled down, her anger sparking only once more- around eight years back when her parents made a fuss over the idea of her marrying Inoichi again after his wife died in childbirth.

Her response of approaching Inoichi to marry Toki was a slap in the face.

Sugi's anger towards her parents developed into an unhealthy obsession with knowing everything she could so she wouldn't be taken by surprise by anyone's true attentions.

As such, Sugi reacts to surprises in… violent ways.

"YOU WANT TO WHAT!?" Or simply loudly.

"I want to have a child Su," Toki responds to her wife as she strips off the dark coloured wig on her head, revealing the light hair hidden underneath. Being the secretary for T&I, Sugi tends to hide the most distinct looks of hers with care. A wig to hide her hair coloured contacts and she hides into the crowd with her plainer features.

"But, but…" Sugi says, stuttering her way through her words, wide-eyed. "You told my parents, and I quote, 'Fuck off and maybe I won't try the tricks I learned from my coworkers on you' when they brought up kids!" Toki snorts, rolling her eyes at her wife.

"Because they wanted you to carry the child, and I know them, they'd have made noise about Inoichi donating." Sugi snorts.

"They're very persistent." She mutters and Toki smiles as Sugi sits down on the couch.

Their house is small, one floor with three bedrooms, one turned into an office for Sugi to use, and their kitchen meshed with the living room. The furniture screams shinobi, sturdy stuff with comfort in mind, mixed with hidden caches. The couch is a large fluffy thing with soft pillows, the bottom of the couch containing a sword, four paper bombs and various kunai.

The colours of the living room are mostly black and white, with a streak of orange here and there, Toki's fondness for the colour subtle.

"But I was thinking about carrying the babe myself, or adoption," Toki tells Sugi, who sighs, her uniform changed for a pair of loose black pants and a mesh shirt covering her breast band. Toki looks her up and down, smiling at the sight of her wife.

"Toki… fuck…" Sugi says, covering her face with one hand- the one missing the top of the middle finger Toki notices. A simply habit of Sugi's reminding herself of her past failures.

Stupid woman.

"It… fuck, I'm thirty-two!" Sugi says, throwing her arms up after a moment. "Ninja don't live much longer after this age." Toki pouts at her wife who simply frowns at her. "I don't… Toki…" The younger woman slinks towards her wife, smiling at her gently.

"Alright, I won't bring it up again, buuuut…" Toki says, as she moves to sit on Sugi's legs, Toki's legs on either side as she straddles her wife, who wraps her arms around Toki's waist. "Can you think about it?" She pouts and Sugi smiles at her even through a sigh.

"Of course." Sugi promises, leaning up to kiss Toki. The two traded slow kisses, Toki's blouse slowly being undone. "I love you."

"Love you to Su." Toki whispers back before the two continued their little session on the couch.

A week later, Sugi leaves the hunter-nin to join the new detective group, agreeing to try and have a baby.

Months later, and despite the various tries, there was nothing. They had done everything the medicnins had said- asked various friends to donate sperm, even used a sperm bank.

And still nothing.

"It failed again." Toki says in a dead voice when she enters the office. She's tired, her eyes red from tears and all Sugi can do is stand and hug her.

It's only Sugi and Fusao left, the others were gone. He waves her off, taking over her shift as Sugi leads her wife home, the two simply sitting beside one another on the couch.

They don't say anything, they simply hold one another.

The next day, Sugi leaves before Toki wakes, dressed in her uniform. She enters the office to find Fusao and Ai filing away things.

"Thanks for taking the shift," Sugi says, clapping her friend on the shoulder. The Inuzuka yawns, shrugging.

"It's fine. I understand she needed some… cheering up," The eyebrow wiggle makes Sugi snort and she smiles.

"Something you know very little about." Sugi teases, Fusao responding by acting wounded.

"Why, I never! Simply because I have little taste for the carnal pursuits!" He huffs and sticks his nose up, causing laughter to erupt from Sugi.

"Go home and sleep, old man." Fusao laughs and leaves with Ai following, the two sniping at one another. Sugi removes the trench coat singling her a detective to toss it on her desk. The surface is covered in scratches and stains, plus a few nail marks from… interesting times when Toki visits after hours.

A glance at the wall where the map sits makes Sugi sigh and sit down in her chair harder then she means to, leaning her head back to stare at the ceiling. Oh, looks like someone decided to write 'ANBU SUCKS' on it. Probably Hanako.

… Or did Sugi do it herself that one night she got drunk?

Snorting, Sugi turns back to her previous thoughts. Yet another failure. Sugi is sad for Toki, but a part of her is a little relieved. She won't admit it though, but the thought of…

Children. Kids. Offspring. Spawn.

… Kami, she doesn't know how to admit it, but Sugi has never really thought about being a mother, not after she discovered she was attracted to women solely. Even after Orochimaru found a way to impregnate woman without intercourse, one of the few good things he had found out through that research, Sugi never gave it much thought.

She… well, likes is to strong a word. But Sugi doesn't mind children. She finds little Chizu amusing, and enjoys the rare times she interacts with the clan kids, but her own?

She isn't sure if she wants them, not really. It could be interesting but… well, she honestly doesn't want to give the clan any children of her blood- petty, but being treated like meat by her parents had annoyed her so much she wants revenge- and you can call her what you want, but Sugi is fairly certain she won't find Toki attractive pregnant. Nor does she wish for her wife to have to go through all that!

But Toki wants it so bad so she agreed, and now this is happening and nothing is going like how Sugi had thought it would go. It's awful and she hates it with a passion.

She wishes she never agreed to try.

Sighing, Sugi turns to her work, trying to find something to distract herself. The kidnapping case is fairly wide spread and she knows that… aha! The case of Senju Natsumi.

Flipping through the case, Sugi familiarizes herself with it. Natsumi had vanished from the hospital after being taken there by her mother for her shots. Her bodyguard had been distracted- sources stating he had been speaking with a fellow ANBU about bodyguard details- and the girl had vanished from the cot she had been placed in when Tsunade was called away to speak to a doctor.

Tsunade had discovered her missing when she threw the doctor through a wall when the man refused to listen when she firmly told him she did not wish to come back to the hospital, her lover's death three weeks before hand still playing on her mind. Upon discovering the child missing, Tsunade had become catatonic and refused to speak to anyone at all. When she did come out of it- a month later- she vanished with Dan's niece. Her last words had been 'Everyone I touch is cursed.'

Studying the file more closely, Sugi spots a name she recognizes. Chang Ken- one of the man arrested two weeks previous after they busted the ring of anti-ninja civilians conspiring to throw the ninja out of the village. He had been a janitor on the floor that day.

Sugi pulls out paper to write notes, pouring over the case file. Another name jumps out and she grins as she writes it down.

Saito Mei, still currently a nurse at the hospital, age forty-two.

"What's with the grin?" A voice asks, Sugi jumps and turns in her chair to see Akatsuki standing behind her. He smirks at her angry look before she turns back to her notes.

"I'm pouring over Senju Natsumi's file, and I think there's some leads." Akatsuki leans over her to check them out and hums.

"Huh, well, looks like we've got interviewing to do today." He tells her and Sugi agrees as the others pour into the office, Masumi entering like a thunder cloud, rage written on her face as she clutches a travel mug.

"..damn motherfucking pieces of fucking shit…" Sugi picks up from Masumi as she passes by her desk. Pointedly not asking, Sugi turns back to her files, marking down the ANBU in the file.

As she closes the file afterwards, Sugi glances towards the picture of Natsumi. She's tiny, with big dark eyes and blonde hair, a pout on her lips. Idly Sugi thinks she reminds her of someone before she closes the file.

Babies all look alike anyway.

…And now she's thinking about Toki again, dammit.

"Alright, so Hatake and I are going to be looking around Third District a bit more," Masumi says, gesturing to the map. She stops to give it a look and shakes her head. Paranoia is creeping up on her again, the pins are still there.

"Maito, Hanako, I want you guys to check out the orphanages by Sixth," Sixth District was a more upscale community, filled with civilian families that were mainly merchant orientated. "Fusao did some digging and found evidence of some of their kids going missing could be connected to our case."

"HAI!" Maito cries in joy and Sugi makes a note that she really doesn't want to deal with him one on one herself thank-you. She heard rumors of the man, and while she respects him, doesn't want to deal with youth.

Not now especially.

Ugh, and she's thinking about it again.

"Sugi, Akatsuki," Masumi withholds her usual grin at Akatsuki's name as she speaks to them. "You guys have any leads on suspects?"

"I have a few people I'd like to interview." Sugi answers, holding up her notes. "Chang Ken, Saito Mei and the ANBU on duty during Senju Natsumi's kidnapping- Mongoose." Masumi blinks and shakes her head.

"The old Mongoose is dead, Chang is currently in… Seventh District lock-up." Masumi says, nodding. "I'll get the files for you later." She tells Sugi who nods before leaving with Akatsuki, Masumi speaking in hushed tones with Hatake.

"Want to bet she's the new Mongoose?" Akatsuki asks, smirking a bit.

"Sucker's bet, and aren't bets against your precious rules?" Sugi teases her friend as the two take to the roofs, running towards Seventh District- or main street as some referred to it, containing the academy and the Hokage's Tower. The two landed outside the station in under fifteen minutes, Sugi taking a moment to check the place out.

Unlike their office, it's two stories tall, with windows spaced along every meter, all barred. The front door isn't chipped and peeling like their door, and instead is completely clean.

Sugi leads the way in, walking tall. Her trench coat had been snatched from her desk and pulled on, showing exactly who she is.

"Detective-san." Says an officer upon seeing her, his tone respectful. Most officers were fond of the detective- Masumi was the reason the police force still had a foothold. Or her and a bunch of others were the real reason, their stubborn natures insisted on never backing down.

Still, Masumi had raised the most fuss about disbanding the police force, even with most of their bulk gone.

"We need to speak to Chang Ken. We were informed he's still here." Sugi speaks clearly, her tone professional as Atasuki unseals a few notepads and pencils from his own trench coat.

"Yes, cell 18. ITO!" the officer barks and a pretty woman pops her head in from another office.

"Yes, sir?"

"The detectives need to speak to Chang, can you grab him and bring him to the interrogation room?"

"Yessir," Ito replies in the affirmative. In a few minutes, they're in the room with Chang, the civilian looking mulish and angry.

"What d' ya fucking ninjas want?" he demands in a growl, looking a little worse for wear. When Akatsuki apprehended him with Hanako, Chang had been a confident brunette man with green eyes sharper than diamond. His clothes had been well kept and he had sprinkles of white in his hair and in his trimmed beard. Now, it looked like he was beaten three ways from Sunday, having a black eye, several missing teeth and half his hair ripped out.

"I see the officers are taking offense to your mannerisms," Akatsuki says, his voice silky, and Sugi nods very slightly. She's taking the 'good cop' route it seems. "Pity." He mocks the man.

"Ya freak' shou'nt be in cha'ge of pe'ple like me!" Chang snarls, his voice garbled from his missing teeth and swollen cheek. The officers had apparently been looking the other way a few times he was roughed up… or they helped.

Hey, police officers or not, they were ninja. Being 'clean' wasn't really their way.

"Chang, we're not here about the little scuffle you had with us," Sugi says in a warm tone, layering her voice with chakra. Her bloodline activates with a thought and she focuses on Chang. "We just want to ask you about the time you were a janitor at the hospital."

"Why yer look'ng fer 'hat?" Chang says, his eyes narrowing. Sugi slowly pokes at his mind a bit as she chats.

It's not precise- the power is hit and miss, but she can glean a few things from him.

"A child went missing then, and we believe she's part of a larger part, don't you agree?" Sugi asks, making her voice silky.

"Waz it a n'ja brat?" Chang asks, but his mind pins one thought. _The big titted slug's kid._

"Yes, but there were others. A few orphans vanished around that time, with no parents." Sugi says, telling only part of the truth. She ignores all the thoughts of the Slug Nin's chest. She's far to used to that to care anymore.

"Why zzat yer buiz'nzz?" Chang demands eyes narrowed even further. _Got paid well. Look away._

"Because it's our job." Snaps Akatsuki, slamming his hands onto the table and leaning forward. Chang flinches and Sugi raises a hand up, staring at Chang who looks even more terrified at her gaze.

"Was anyone else working the floor that night Chang?" Sugi purrs, slinking out chakra towards the man, who makes a pretty good effort in fighting it- years of experience in fighting off ninja trying to get him to lower prices or let them walk off with more then they should.

Sugi makes a mental note to tell Masumi about it. They can't stop all of it, too many ninjas to keep an eye on, but they try to crack down on it when they can. The sad fact remains though when you give people the ability to create illusions or mess with minds, they take advantage. The fines they level on the ninja usually aren't enough to make them stop.

"No," Chang states firmly, but his mind speaks up. _Mei smiles and offers the cash. 'Look away'._

Sugi opens her mouth and smiles, all her teeth showing. Chang flinches back, looking struck dumb or just horrified.

"Thank you, and we'll be talking to Saito Mei later," Sugi tells him in a sugary tone. Chang pales under the bruises.

Sugi just chuckles a bit more.

She loves her job.

* * *

Hey, everybody! I'm going to be announcing something:

As you noticed, I changed the chapter titles. This is due to a bit of thought on my part: originally, Untraveled Road was the first part of a series I was plotting out, one I titled the 'Casefiles' which, as it sounds, is about the cases Masumi works on.

However, I decided to combine it all instead. (At least until part 2) The reason being that my plot had changed a fair bit, and I thought it would work out better.

I originally planned for Untraveled Road to be about 20 chapters. Now, I'm plotting the first case to end around chapter 13-16, followed by 1-3 chapters covering other stuff, then another case. Part One- this current part- will focus on the years before Naruto and Sasuke become genin, Part Two will be afterwards. This will let me enable a few more subplots to continue throughout the story without to many issues plus other things.

Anyway, we got more hints at a few things this chapter. Also, we see into Masumi and Hama more, along with getting to know the rest of the team as well.

Review, please!


	8. Case File 1 VI

Title: Untraveled Road

Summary: Masumi just wanted to keep her head down. She had no interest in changing the story, and being a detective was her way out. But when she ended up on the case for missing kids, plus with Naruto clinging to her like a burr, she might have no other choice. SI OC

* * *

Gai frowns as he inspects the orphanage while the Nara woman interviews the Matron. Upon seeing her and trying to interrogate her himself, he had noticed she refused to meet his eyes and instead shuffled from side to side, eyes twitching away from him. Nara had taken her away so she could do a more through interrogation, though, hopefully, she found something.

Gai looks around the orphanage, inspecting the windows and doors, hesitating at one.

With his unique condition, Gai has had to train himself to be able to recognize Genjutsu without the telltale spike of chakra in his mind. As he inspects the door, he finds his gaze slipping more than it should. He slips into a quick position and opens the door to find…

Nothing. Just a room.

"That's the bad kid room," whispers a voice. Gai turns to see a young girl looking up at him. "The Matron puts all the bad kids in it, and then they… just vanish."

Gai's eyes widen and his mind flips through the orphans who went missing.

"Did A Girl Named Yuki Vanish Here?" he asked the girl softly. She nodded.

"And others. Sometimes the Matron doesn't tell anyone, though- she only tells about the Academy Students." That get's Gai's attention and he kneels down.

"How many?"

"…Lots. I make sure to not be bad." The girl tells him, biting her lip. "…I don't think they were bad."

"I Will Find Out, I Promise." The girl smiles and then introduces herself,

"I'm Tenten by the way." Gai grins cheerfully as he closes the door.

"I Am Maito Gai!" He does a pose and the girl giggles as Hanako and the Matron come over. The Matron eyed Tenten and Gai grins, an idea coming into his head, "Do You Like Weapons Young One?"

"Yeah!" Tenten says, her scarred hands pumping up. "I wanna be a great kunoichi like Tsunade-sama!" Gai laughs.

"Well, I Can Teach You A Little This Weekend If You Wish!" he offers, and Tenten's eyes glint with knowledge.

She gets it as the Matron stiffens. She can't vanish now, can she?

As Gai and Hanako leave the orphanage, Gai wonders on how best to approach the girl's training.

He's got a few ideas…

-0-

"Alright, what have we found now?" Masumi asks the group as she stirs some of her 'late night tea'. Three times the normal caffeine of green tea- pretty dangerous but for a ninja? Their chakra will just burn it right off.

"Saito Mei paid off Chang, she's heavily involved." Sugi offers as she shuffles through her notes. "Currently she's visiting some family in an outside village, back in two days." Masumi nods, writing it down on a whiteboard they'd grabbed from storage.

"The Matron is hiding something." Maito offers before Hanako can open her mouth. An annoyed look graces Hanako's face as she glares at him.

Masumi makes a note to remind Hanako the Hokage is asking them to work together with ANBU to withhold her annoyance better.

"A young orphan spoke of a room where 'bad' children are placed," Maito says in a surprising tone, his voice hard. "They vanish… and the Matron only reports the academy students who do." Masumi snarls, nearly breaking her mug as she glares at the wall.

"Fucking shit, son of…" she lets out a low breath and shakes her head. "Can you trust the kid?"

"I believe so. I told her I would train her this weekend." Gai says with a shrug. Masumi nods.

"That Matron's been there for years- one testimony from a kid won't do much, but we can use it." Masumi sighs, rubbing her face. There really isn't much they can do for that- one child versus the matron? It's really not going to work, unless… Masumi begins to speak again as ideas fly through her head.

A sting- she's not the best with genjutsu but Sugi is able to hold a convincing image over herself. Use her, put her in the orphanage and arrange for her to be snatched up…

Or maybe a stakeout. Lie in wait.

But what make the kids 'bad'? What makes the Matron put them into the room? There isn't enough information to make a choice.

"When you meet her, ask her some questions about 'bad' kids." Gai agrees and Masumi continues with their little info session. "Hatake and I found a little more chakra imprints- Hanako, I am drilling you in the jutsu later-" Hanako blushes at that. "But not much concrete info." Masumi drinks her tea, sitting down in a chair. They'd come back after people started eyeing them, the two instead of going through the files for any more possible patterns.

"Hatake, how long can your dogs be out?" Some summons had time limits, unable to stand the human world for too long. The Slugs couldn't be out longer than six hours, while Snakes never lasted longer than three- though whether or not it was from a lack of appropriate sacrifice or because they couldn't, Masumi didn't know.

"No time limit." Hatake offers, reading his book lazily. Masumi hums, ignoring the book as does Sugi. Hanako had been horrified by it, but Masumi has long since stopped caring about that sort of stuff. Sugi honestly just finds it funny.

"Can you have them on patrol around the district? Just for a week or so. From the pattern in the dates, we might get another grab soon." Hanako jerks, eyes widening.

"We've got a pattern?" she asks, her voice odd as Sugi looks through the notes in confusion while Akatsuki looks incredibly confused himself.

"Small one, mostly with the dates- we're fast coming upon graduation in two weeks. According to past records, we'll end up with another gone in the next week, and then perhaps two gone right afterward." Masumi flips through the notes and the detectives all trade looks while Hatake and Maito trade looks themselves. "I'd rather not have ANBU on our tails until we know more- this is a precaution. I'll put in the request when we need it." She warns them. It had been hard to find the pattern, and Masumi had to dispel the jutsu on it, discovering that however had layered the first really went all out.

The pattern isn't perfect- typically one or two would vanish six months before graduation, around five the following and then two who failed their sensei's exam. It goes quiet for three years and it starts again. Except for a few times when the pattern deviates.

Damn it, she wants to ring the neck of whoever put the genjutsu on the stupid files, it's annoying.

"Of course." Maito agrees while Hatake lazily nods in answer. Masumi nods back and turns to the paperwork on the table.

"Alright, we've got a few more cases now- murder and theft. Akatsuki, you're on the theft. Sugi, Hanako, tackle the murder. Looks pretty clean cut. Hatake, get your dogs out and have them patrol. Maito, you're with me. We're going to go and look around the hospital." Masumi nods as the groups break, Maito staying behind to wait for Masumi to finish her tea.

"The map has a genjutsu on it." Maito suddenly speaks and Masumi chokes on her tea, slamming a fist onto her chest. Maito quickly slams a hand onto her back and she moans as she falls forward. "Sorry."

"No, it's… shit fuck." Masumi rubs her face as she gestures with her hand at nothing. "I… damn it, we're looking at a fucking snake, aren't we?" she asks angrily. Maito hesitates but nods slowly. "Damn it." Masumi shakes her head. "I'll trap it later, figure out who it is." She stands and sighs slowly. "Let's just… check out the hospital and hope we find something."

-0-

They don't. No real information is there, though Maito makes notes of those he finds are responding to them oddly. Masumi calls it off at five, heading to the ramen stand to find Sasuke and Naruto in a ramen eating contest, Chizu sighing as she ignores them.

Kids.

"What is going on with those two?" Masumi asks Chizu as she sits down next to the young girl, watching amusedly at the boys.

"Isn't it obvious?" Chizu asks dryly and Masumi gives a dirty look before ordering a shrimp ramen.

"I wouldn't be asking if I knew." Chizu gives her a look herself and Masumi sighs. "Oh great and intelligent Chizu, what's going on?"

"Naruto doesn't like you adopted Sasuke and Sasuke doesn't like the fact you hang out with Naruto," is the answer and Masumi freezes, before she sighs and drops her head, alerting the boys to her presence.

"Nee-chan!" Naruto cries while Sasuke repeats it in a calmer tone, the two glaring at one another soon after.

"I'm a fucking idiot… Today has just been one fucking cluster fuck after another," she points at the three right after. "You all can swear around me three times now." Chizu and Naruto snicker while Sasuke smirks as Masumi sits up. Masumi ignores them and just eats her food, grumbling.

"Alright, I'll only be an hour at work and then I'm coming out. Do you three want to spar?"

"Mom doesn't want me to do those things," Chizu pipes up. Masumi blinks.

"What?"

"She says it's too dangerous with my hypersensitivity," Masumi sputters a bit, eyes wide.

What. The. Fuck.

Every single ninja clan was legally bound by law to teach sparring to their members. Even if they don't become a ninja, they still need to be taught.

"Teuchi! Do you have a copy of the Founding Laws?" Masumi asks the ramen stand owner who blinks but bring it out. He usually keeps it at hand for those who are trying to pass the Citizen Ship Test or to point out the clause stating that any Academy student gets two free meals from any establishment a week when people fuss over Naruto getting the occasional free meal.

Flipping through it, Masumi curses upon finding the section she was looking for, vanishing as fast as came, leaving behind payment for all the meals at the stand.

When she enters the office, Masumi grabs Hanako and yanks her into the office that's supposed to be for the Head Detective but Masumi never uses it unless she needs to yell at or scold a detective.

"Why aren't you teaching your kid how to fight?!" she hisses at Hanako who jerks back before a mulish look passes over her face.

"She can't!"

"Taijutsu is not the same thing as chakra Hanako!" Masumi snaps. Hanako scowls angrily. "Have you ever read the Founding Laws?" Masumi says, eyes hard. Hanako gives her a deadpan stare and Masumi nods, conceding she is being a bit mean.

Even ninja and civilian- immigrant or not- has to read the Founding Laws and pass a test on it with at least seventy-five pass to be considered a citizen of Konoha.

"Section 10 and furthermore section 10 paragraph a, subsection one?" Masumi asks. Hanako frowns. "All members of a ninja clan must be trained in a form of defense for the safety of Konoha."

"I know that, but-"

"Paragraph a states that even if they are civilian they must be trained." Hanako opens her mouth and Masumi ignores her. "Subsection one states if the individual cannot use chakra they must be trained in taijutsu." Hanako blinks, confusion on her face. "You are breaking the law by not training Chizu!"

"No, I'm not, she-"

"The law is fucking black and white Hanako." Masumi snaps. "You are too fucking train her." Hanako glares and turns to grab the large book of Founding Laws Masumi keeps on the desk in her office. She flips through it and begins to pale, as Masumi just watches.

"Paragraph c!" Hanako quickly says smiling. Masumi sighs and goes over to check it, already knowing the answer.

"If the civilian is unable to perform any sort of combat technique due to medical concerns, they are to be protected and not trained by the Clan." Hanako looks proud but Masumi just gives her another look. "Chakra hypersensitivity doesn't count."

"Yes it-" Masumi turns the page and points at the subsection stating what she just said. Hanako looks at her with anger in every pore before turning and storming out of the room. Masumi follows and ignores the 'Oh We Weren't Listening' ninjas in the room.

A ninja with no info is a dead ninja after all. She just rolls her eyes at their antics.

The hour sped by, Hanako refusing to speak to Masumi but leaving with a huff to go tell Chizu that Hanako would be training her from then on. Hanako refused to do it, and Masumi is the best choice due to already training Sasuke.

The others left one by one until it was just Masumi and Sugi left.

"You heading?" Sugi asks as she begins to prepare for the night shift, piling files so she wouldn't be bored.

"Soon," Masumi says, "I want to take a look at the map. Did you trade with Fusao?"

"Yeah… Toki… she needed me last night." Sugi sighs, looking tired. "I think we need to do a fertility check." Masumi winces.

The Konoha hospital never required it nor did they ask it of people. For the village, it was seen as shameful. If you were infertile… it somewhat meant you weren't able to do your duty to the village- produce more soldiers, more civilians, keep the village alive.

Clan policy was usually to do a check, and Masumi had, in fact, had hers done though she never plans on children other then possibly carrying a child for Hama if they need to fully carry a better sample of the bloodline.

"Shit, how is she?" Masumi asks quietly. Sugi shakes her head in response. "I…" Masumi begins before she stops. She can't offer to stay, she has the kids.

"It's fine, Toki is busy anyway. She has to record some info tonight." Sugi says, "Anko apparently is saving this guy special."

"…That is terrifying. Why did you marry the secretary for T&I again?" Masumi asks, eyebrow raised at her friend. Sugi grins, leaning back and smirking as she flashes her wrists with marks on them. Masumi wrinkles her nose and goes to the conference room while Sugi cackles behind her.

Once inside, Masumi crosses to the map to check it, quickly moving all the pins to their appropriate positions before she slides her hand up her sleeve to activate the seal stitched into her coat's lining. She smirks a little as her poison kit appears.

She's created over twenty poisons by herself, and her clan has made over a hundred since the beginning of Konoha. Not all though are known in Konoha- including a small trap poison.

It had been created by a Chano clan member who wanted to know who was stealing from the cash drawer in the tea house. The symptoms resembled food poisoning- except you vomited purple colored bile.

Taking a quick breath, Masumi drinks the poison but quickly uses her chakra to grab it, turning her own chakra into the poison. She places a finger on a pin and begins to push chakra out, slowly poisoning all the pins on the map.

No one should touch them after this, making it a perfect trap for anyone.

Smirking, Masumi leaves the room, waving goodbye to Sugi as she heads to the training grounds to begin training Sasuke, Naruto, and Chizu.

She takes a minute to purge herself of the residual poison, though.

She doesn't want to end up spitting purple and giving the game away after all.

-0-

Sparring was fairly intensive, mostly Masumi teaching Chizu some basics and having the boys spar until she goes one on one with each.

Chizu picks it up slowly, but her eyes are burning with fire and she looks thrilled as she practices, so Masumi is happy for that.

It's funny, though, she can't remember the last time Chizu looked that happy…

Sasuke is furious that Naruto's 'inventive' methods get the comment 'shit kid- yeah you can use that one around me- in a few years you'll be a damn master if you keep your surprise skills down.'

Masumi just wants to throw her hands up. God, what is it with genius kids? She hadn't interacted with Itachi much but it was hard to avoid getting to know the kid during the week they'd needed an extra on an assassination/infiltration mission and he'd been the only one available. He was pretty mellow, but even he had times where she ended up tossing him into a lake in annoyance.

Sighing, Masumi simply ignores Sasuke's grumpy attitude when they get back to the apartment.

"I'm going to be in my lab for a bit- if need me, knock three times on the third red line. Other lines deliver an electric shock." Masumi tells him. "I won't be in there more than two hours, alright?" She half ignores his agreement as she strips off her cloak to pull on a new lab coat and mask, making sure the few strands of hair escaping her bun are put back in place.

Turning on her recorder she begins to speak in a clear tone;

"Initiating the mixing phase of the newest batch of Chakra Kira," Masumi says as she picks up beakers and gets the vials ready. "The last batch contained a dosage of viper venom and aconite leaves mixed with liquid chakra." Liquid chakra was named so not because of the fact it was chakra- it was named do because it could actually affect chakra- it was a major component in chakra pills. Masumi bites her lip as she grabs her notebook and looks it over. "I… I fear that this poison can never be completed. If this batch fails… I fear my grandmother's goal was impossible all along." Masumi sighs, looking at her notebook.

Her grandmother had been friends with a Hyuuga branch member who didn't carry the Bloodline. Kaede had hoped to create a poison to mimic the effects of the Gentle Fist on people. But she died before it could happen, and Masumi had promised to try and complete it herself.

But it seems an impossible task.

"…Testing batch number… 150 will be comprised of the normal four milliliters of liquid chakra…" she dumped the liquid into the beaker as she wrote down what she was doing and spoke aloud.

Always record it as much as possible. Less potential for screw ups.

"Three milliliters of tetrodotoxin, four milliliters of ethylene glycol," She easily poured the liquids in before she turns to begin the process of grinding up aconite roots, not worried about any possible consequence. Liquid chakra stabilized compounds until introduced into the blood stream, making it perfect for poisoners. "And a tablespoon of aconite roots." She took a stirring stick and carefully mixed the liquid before placing a lid on it. "As policy states- let it sit for ten days before using." She says one more time before she strips off the gloves on her hands for new ones so she can feed the rats.

Poisons are difficult, but she really wouldn't change a thing.

She drops the clothes into her incinerator outside the door- styled after her memories and with seals her sister created. She always makes sure to destroy the clothes she wears after mixing poison- keeps any contaminants away from her.

She dashes into her room realizing she has a minor in the apartment after a second.

She really needs to learn modesty now.

Entering her room, though, she finds an ANBU standing there, as silent as a ghost with a Feline mask.

"…Lion." Masumi speaks, staring at the head of the ANBU bodyguards for the Hokage.

"Sarutobi-sama requests you," the ANBU speaks, the voice neither female or male. Most ANBU bodyguards used genjutsu to hide their gender and any tells of their body to make sure nothing could connect them to their position as a bodyguard. Masumi personally finds it terrifying.

She hates feeling left in the dark, unable to tell who is under the mask, who she's speaking to. The unspoken truth of the ANBU forces was that usually? They knew who was in the forces. Oh, sure- they don't know who is under the mask, but the tattoo? It's a beacon to those who can tell.

But the ANBU bodyguards? Their genjutsu even hides the tattoo. It's a talent passed orally by the head guard to the younger ones- a reason ROOT could never infiltrate the ranks of the bodyguards.

Licking her lips, Masumi nods once and Lion vanishes with a swirl of leaves. Letting out a slow breath, Masumi dresses in a simple uniform, making sure to fully show she is a detective before she ducks out to speak to Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun?" she asks him upon spying him going through his homework. "I've been summoned by the Hokage. Go to bed by ten, alright?"

"Hai nee-chan." He replies and she nods, vanishing in her own swirl of leaves, ignoring the knocking at her door.

It can wait.

Outside the door, though, Hama sighs, holding a tin of cookies upon hearing the noise of a teleportation jutsu.

Summoned probably.

Hama turned away from the door, smoothing down the green dress she wore having chosen to forgo her normal kimono in the hopes of having a nice conversation with her sister.

Hama had refused to believe Masumi's words until this morning when she spoke with her mother who scolded her for the first time in ten years!

"Of course they do that! How else will a genin know how to fight someone twice their age?"

It, unfortunately, made sense, as did her mother's scolding that Hama needs to leave her sister alone.

"I get you're worried about her, but you need to realize Masumi isn't a civilian. Ninja ways are strange, and despite your training, you aren't a ninja." Alei had scolded her child while glaring at her.

So Hama had hoped to extend a peace offering, but it seems she just missed her sister. Hama hesitates for a second, debating about breaking in, but she refrains.

Her mother had made it clear she needed to stop that as well.

But it was hard. Masumi has always been her little sister, the girl who kept crying because of all her past lives memories, the girl who whispered about being betrayed in all three. The one who whispered why she was afraid of dogs. The one who hid away from everyone and started work to early. The one who all of Hama's friends pitied for having to be a ninja.

It's not fair- why is Masumi the one who has her life together now? Why is Masumi the one with a kid, and friends that aren't other clan heirs?

Hama reaches up to wipe her eyes when a voice asks,

"Are You Alright Chano-san?" Hama looks up, blinking to see a man in a green jumpsuit standing in front of her. She blinks but nods.

"I am shinobi-san, just… a bit worn out." The man smiles cheerfully.

"AH! I Forgot To Introduce Myself! I AM MAITO GAI!" He does a pose and Hama holds in her giggles at it.

He's adorable. Like… a puppy. A big puppy she's fairly sure could kill her in a second but… a puppy all the same.

"It was nice meeting you, Maito-san," Hama tells the man, turning to leave when Maito interrupts her.

"Are You Worried For Your Sister?" Hama gives a small shrug in response and Maito nods. "Well, You Are A Good Sister For Being So."

"Even if I can be a little overbearing?" Hama asks. Maito laughs in reply.

"Everyone Can Be At Times, Do Not Worry About It, I Am Sure Your Sister Understands."

"I hope your right," Hama says before she looks down at her cookies. "…If I leave these outside her door, can you warn her that they're from me?" On one hand, she would just break in, but…

She wants to try a bit more to be a better sister.

"Of Course!" Maito replies with a smile. Hama grins and leaves them outside the door.

"Come by one of the shops when you can," the woman offers him. "I'll give you a discount." Hama heads down the stairs, wondering what kind of tea and dessert he'd like. She has a feeling he enjoys spicy food…

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm also currently doing NaNoWrMo with original work, but I am hoping to get to chapter 10 by the end of November!

Now, this is going to be a long authors notes because reasons:

Yes, it seems odd that Masumi doesn't investigate Tenten's claims, but really? She's a kid, and Masumi can't really act on those orders. The Matron has to much clout. Masumi will do it, secretly, she just needs to figure out how first. If she does it officially, it will look bad if nothing's turned up. Also, real world? Warrants take like days to get approved. Them doing a walk through like that? No need for a warrant. Investigating: Warrant. So she has to bide her time. (Also, ninja.)

Now, for those wondering: Yes, when Masumi was still in ANBU when Itachi just joined up and she went on a mission with him. And yes, she tossed him into a lake a few times. At that time, Masumi was the scary 'Poison Woman' who just needed to tap you to put poison on you. She cheated and simply poisoned him enough he wasn't much of a fight. Plus, she was a bit stronger then when he was like eleven.

Now? She's running the opposite way thank you.

Hama and her involvement this chapter? That was… hard. On one hand, Hama is a clan heir with a good head on her shoulders and a good head for politics. On the other?

She's young. She's twenty-four and other then losing her grandmother and dealing with her relatives, she's never actually been faced with any difficulties. She's pretty sheltered- hence why her mother agreed to the whole apartment thing in the hopes it could help her. She doesn't see much of a difference between her and her sister, which leads to her breaking into Masumi's apartment despite Masumi's requests she doesn't because Masumi does it to Hama.

Hama still probably doesn't see a difference, but she's willing to try. It won't be easy, but she will. (Also, yes, shipping is starting and I love it.)

Masumi's poison: I have many plans. Mwhahahah! Biggest? Masumi will always be working on this poison. I will introduce others, but this one? Her biggest.

I don't know if the excuse 'For a Story' will work out if someone ever sees my browser history after the hour I spent looking up poison.

Tetrodotoxin: A neurotoxin found in the puffer fish, blue-ringer octopus and breeds of poison dart frogs. Also found in other venmous animals.

Aconite: The entire plant is poisonous, but the roots are the worst- a half tablespoon in whiskey can kill a large man.

Ethylene glycol: a component in Antifreeze. Tastes sweet and is part of the reason you don't drink antifreeze idiots. Affects the central nervous system and causes heart/kidney failure.

More fun slang I made up:

Snake: Used for a spy or traitor, Snake is because of Orochimaru.

Review Please!


	9. Case File 1 VII

**Title:** Untraveled Road

 **Summary:** Masumi just wanted to keep her head down. She had no interest in changing the story, and being a detective was her way out. But when she ended up on the case for missing kids, plus with Naruto clinging to her like a burr, she might have no other choice. SI OC

 **Note:** I got a message about the name Akatsuki I'm using. First, it isn't the last name dude, I'm going by the Japanese writing and going (Last Name) (first name). Second, I know about the Akatsuki organization. I did it for the future jokes. I'm not an idiot.

* * *

"Hokage-sama," Masumi says, appearing in his office with a respectful bow of her head. Sarutobi Hirzune simply bows his head in answer to her appearance.

Lion had warned him after all.

"Detective-san, I am pleased you came," he says calmly, the words between them going unsaid of course she came.

You don't deny the Hokage.

"Is there an issue Hokage-sama?" Masumi asks, her back stiff.

It's been a long day, even if she did discover some valuable information. Discovering a traitor in her ranks, learning her charge and Naruto were fighting over her, dealing with Hanako, her constant failure with the poison…

It piles up and dealing with the Hokage never puts her in a good mood. She knows he's watching her always, trying to figure her out, maybe learn of who her father is.

Masumi feels the paint on her cheeks and eyes. She wonders how he would react to the knowledge.

She doesn't want to find out.

She also has personal issues with him stemming from his policies to his treatment of several shinobi and Academy students. She knows he looks upon her with favor and fear, wondering. She knows he cares for Naruto but also considers him a pawn in a game she doesn't want to poke at.

A life as a spymaster and later a religious figure head gave her many skills with politics- most out of date but some still rang true. She just now got to ignore them gleefully.

It had also given her the eyes to notice when someone played them. That she pays close attention to.

"You've been spending time with Naruto," is the only reply. Sarutobi is a man of many talents. He earned the name of Professor after all, and he defends it with all of his skill.

One talent is to know when to tiptoe and when to simply be blunt. The Chano family is a family of diplomats, traders, merchants, and poisoners. They all enjoy the circular game of talking and could use it to an art.

Chano Masumi for her skills in poison, intelligence and diplomacy skill prefers to be as blunt as she can be- a refreshing change in pace he has to admit.

"I met him at the ramen place by my office sir," Masumi says, standing at attention, hands by her side with her palms facing the Hokage.

In all of her old lives- even the dimly remembered days of Nina Tucker- military and police would hold their hands behind their back to stand at attention. It meant you didn't draw your weapon as fast as you could.

In this life, holding hands behind your back is a threat. No one can see the hand signs you make and no one can guess what they will be. Sealess jutsu is rare enough that this is the appropriate stance to communicate to a higher officer.

"I gave him advice, paid his meal and continued. After that, he simply… attached himself to me." Masumi says honestly.

"I see… he does tend to do so." Sarutobi chuckles, smiling slightly. "How do you feel about him?"

"His Academy teachers before this one were assholes," Masumi says honestly. "I had to tell him to lose the street and give him pointers about his taijutsu stances."

Sarutobi doesn't react, but Masumi has a feeling he's angry. Probably furious at the academy and she hides her grin.

Good.

"I also saw his apartment," Masumi begins, feeling her nerves shake.

She has little respect for the man as a person, but he is still her Hokage, still her boss. She fears what he can order, fears him as well.

"It's fine… for a genin," Masumi admits cautiously. "But for a child?" Sarutobi sighs, and leans back.

He understands. But he can't take Naruto in himself, and he doesn't know anyone else who could.

He can't ask Masumi to do so- she is the guardian of the last Uchiha and people still whisper.

"I can't do much about it, other than search for possible-" Sarutobi begins, but the door opens to reveal Yamanato Sugi, who looks frazzled.

"I am sorry for interrupting Hokage-sama, but…" she hesitates and turns to Masumi who straightens. "Boss, Hatake says the dogs caught a kidnapping in action."

The two women are gone in a flash as soon as Sarutobi nods his permission, taking the roof top road.

Masumi's dressed in civilian clothing, which she regrets slightly. A dress is fine for speaking to the Hokage in, but she prefers her normal clothing for work. Not a flowy dress Hama gave her that does have nice hidden pockets.

Hatake is waiting for them, next to a small child who looks confused. The child is holding a tiny child in their arms though, and Masumi feels her gut clench harshly.

"What happened?" she demands, Akatsuki stepping forward from where he had been casting jutsu to hand her a trench coat. She pulls it on and digs out a hair tie, pulling her hair into a bun as she listens.

"We were patrolling-" begins a voice and Masumi has to force her jump away as she looks at a tiny dog.

Pakkun, her mind tells her.

But another part thinks of Alexander and sitting in the circle, of their bodies joining together, their very genes mashing into a creation that…

She forces it back. She forces it back and she doesn't want to think about it, but it keeps playing in her head.

"...he got away, but Bull got his scent." Pakkun continues, feeling the chakra boil in Masumi.

She doesn't like dogs, he realizes. If he'd been any other nin-dog, he would be insulted.

But he isn't, and he feels the chakra boil in her, saying she's terrified due to a past experience.

He understands- Kakashi can't stand caves after all.

"Shit," Masumi curses, turning to the child to ignore the dog. "What's your name?" she asks, kneeling down.

"Ai," the child says and Masumi hums, looking the kid over.

Brunette, with big brown eyes and facial features that remind her of the Tevinter nation in Leliana's life, but call to mind the Asian countries from Tori's.

Generic, plain.

Masumi pokes out a chakra finger and jumps, screaming.

"DECOY!"

The dogs burst into action, running off as Hatake curses, running after them as Akatsuki follows. Sugi, who had been interviewing behind them, turns to Masumi.

"What?!"

"This kid's chakra system is too fucking small!" Masumi says in anger. Sugi curses herself, feeling her anger boil.

The kid is average, average looks, average chakra size…

Not the type that gets kidnapped.

"I… I… I'm sorry," Ai whispers, and Masumi turns, putting on her kindest smile even though she wants to scream.

"It's alright- it's not your fault." She promises the kid, and she feels awful.

Ai was nearly kidnapped, and then…

God, what a mess.

Sugi takes Ai and the baby to the station for a more thorough interview as Masumi strides down the street, searching for anything, any information.

But her mind suddenly turns.

She'd only spoken about the plan to her team. She knows there is a snake in it now.

This just confirms it even more.

She takes a moment to duck into an alley and curse, letting them all loose in anger and bitterness.

She doesn't realize the watchers until one snorts.

"Interestin'. Nevah hear a red-eye let loose," Masumi turns to find a pair of twins in front of her, both staring at her with harsh eyes. "Ya lookin' for the assholes kidnappin' kids?" one of them asks.

"Yes, you know anything?" Masumi asks.

Even in this world, children are overlooked. Street kids are passed by without a thought, children ninja are ignored.

It's a deadly weakness, but a useful one if one knows where to look.

"Bit," the other one says. The two trade looks and then nod.

"Ah'm One, this is Two." One says. "Kidnappin' happens lots 'round here- White mask, but…"

"Not. No paint," Two says.

Masumi closes her eyes.

Shit. It's ROOT. That's… damn it, this is not going to be fun. This is going to be completely awful and she'll want to rip her hair out and run away screaming, won't she.

She… she shouldn't, but…

"Anything else?"

"Nah, we'll ke'p an eye open though." One says. Masumi nods and watches the two vanish into a crowd with ease.

She turns and heads to her apartment.

She needs to actually be dressed for this.

-0-

His new guardian is busy a lot.

Sasuke finds the note telling him where she is and sighs.

Just like… just like…

 _Tou-san… Kaa-san…_

Shaking his head, Sasuke grabs a bento from the fridge and is about to leave when he stops.

Masumi's words play in his head about the dead last and part of him wants to ignore them but…

Naruto is an idiot. A fool and not worth much time, but he thinks of the apartment and thinks of the past few months he faced while they fought over him.

He grabs an extra bento and reminds himself it's because he might end up a teammate.

No other reason.

-0-

Masumi has her head on her desk and all she wants to do is scream.

Everyone is looking at each other now, the realization a snake is in their midst a harsh one. Hatake eyes Akatsuki with an air of smug knowledge and Masumi just wants to sleep.

"Everyone shut the hell up," she finally announces. She gets out of her chair and faces the group.

Sugi is at her desk, working through files while sneaking peeks at the others. Fusao is petting his nin-dog ferally.

Hatake and Akatsuki had been glaring at each other until Masumi stood up, while Maito and Hanako were in the background.

"Thanks to Maito, I figured there was a snake," Masumi admits. "Unfortunately it was after our plans, so we failed. However, we also got some information."

"Should you be talking about this were the spy can hear?" Hatake asks. Masumi throws her hands up in agitation as Akatsuki bristles like a cat, his teeth bared.

"For fuck sakes, get the fuck over your goddamn self." She tells him. "For all, we fucking know you're the fucking spy- your dogs did fall for the trap."

Hatake rears back, lone eye wide. Maito jerks, but quiets after a second.

Masumi knows they aren't spies, she remembers the anime enough, but at the same time, she needs to get this through Hatake's skull.

"Or Maito can be! He could be tossing me off the fucking trail! Sugi could be fucking skimming our motherfucking minds right this fucking second! Fusao could be! Hanako could be!" she plants her hands on her hips. "Grow the fuck up. Or should we be expecting for you to be blamed for a war if we're all like our parents?!"

Hatake withdraws and Masumi hates herself a little.

There is a line, and she crossed and she knows she did.

But she had to, even though it makes her stomach sick.

"Now, I found a pair of twins in the slums that gave me info. They said they would tell me more when they could," Masumi explains. "I am keeping it to my chest though, understood?" She looks at them and they nod. All look a bit rattled.

A snake. A fucking snake in their midst and the biggest case in history…

It's no wonder they're all ready to snap.

"Is Saito due back tomorrow?" Masumi asks. Sugi nods, grabbing the files. "Good- Sugi, I need…" Masumi hesitates.

She trusts her team but she can't and it hurts. They were there when she fought to keep the Police. Fusao backed her, Akatsuki stood with her. Hanako and Sugi provided info. They were there with her.

And one is a snake. A traitor.

She feels sick and twisted and she can't breathe. But she has to.

"I need you to help with the interrogation. Read her mind- let's see what we're dealing with." Sugi nods. "Are you mentally able though?" Masumi asks.

Sugi winces. Masumi holds tall though. This issue with Toki is huge, and Masumi's heard from a source in the hospital- a Chano clan member who works in administration- that the results came back poor.

And they're dealing with a case on children.

"Yes," Sugi says firmly. She stands tall and nods, and Masumi nods in turn. It's all she can do.

Sugi, however, feels her body numb. Of course, the Boss knew. Of course.

It had been after the whole 'almost kidnapping'. Sugi had stopped by her home to change before this meeting, much like the others had when Toki saw her. And she saw Toki.

Her beautiful, beautiful wife was in tears, her wig missing and her clothes crumpled.

"I can't…"

Sugi winces from the memory, but it plays in her head.

Toki was sterile. Toki was sterile and Sugi felt her walls collapse.

Sugi, who had been Hunter Nin, who was a detective, who had taken the family jutsu to new heights, had broken down.

Sure, she could carry a baby, but… Toki was broken, hurt, torn. She wanted to be the one, she wanted it but it had been ripped from her fingers.

And Sugi couldn't handle it.

When everyone breaks apart, Sugi is left with Masumi, who places a hand on her shoulder for a second.

That's all that's needed.

The rest of the day is spent working, sorting through files and making new ideas. Masumi only tells the people involved in each route what will happen.

Sugi knows this is the best idea for them currently, and she curses her ability.

She can read surface thoughts. She can skim minds and read them, but she knows that her fellows know how to trick her- she did teach them after all when a scroll had been stolen from her clan.

But she wishes she didn't now and curses the guilt in her stomach that tickles her as they work through the day.

"Sugi, want ramen for supper?" Masumi asks suddenly, startling the Yamanaka.

"Shit… sure boss." Sugi says, following Masumi, leaving Hanako and Fusao- Akatsuki went with Maito somewhere and Hatake vanished as well.

When they reach the stand, Sugi notes that three kids- and shit it hurts- are waiting. She spots little Chizu, along with the Uchiha and…

Ah. The Uzumaki.

Sugi shrugs and sits down next to the boy, ordering a shrimp ramen- extra large.

And some sake, which Masumi rolls her eyes at.

Whatever, she's not the one reading the files upon files of info and crossreferencing it, Sugi reasons.

"Masumi-nee," The Uchiha- Sasuke if her memory (And little Ino's words) are right- says, "Can we spar tonight?"

"…Yeah," Masumi says with a sigh after a moment of thought. She rubs her face. "Short one though- I was up all night and busy all fucking day…" she groans.

"Case a big one?" Chizu asks curiously. Masumi makes a face in answer.

"Doesn't your mom talk about it?" Sugi asks curiously. Chizu shrugs.

"We don't talk much." Sugi looks at Masumi who frowns in confusion.

That… makes no sense. Hanako always talks about Chizu, loves to rant…

"Mostly she talks to me about arranging a marriage between me and Shikamaru-san but… it feels…" Chizu makes a face and Masumi frowns, eyeing the girl curiously.

"Ya look too much like Shikamaru!" Uzumaki says, frowning. "It'd be weird!" Sugi ruffles the kid's hair out of instinct.

The look she receives is one of awe and joy, making her stomach clench as he looks at her.

No kid should look at anyone like that like it's a shock someone is kind.

"Kid's got a point Chizu. Besides, might be a tad too close." Sugi says, pushing past her thoughts. The sad part of the village was that there were too many who slipped through the cracks, who lived on the streets with only their wits to protect them.

If she got angry about them all, she would never stop.

"Mom was supposed to marry Shikaku-sama," Chizu says, shrugging. "But he chose Yoshino-sama instead."

And now she wants her daughter to be in the head family, Sugi figures.

She knows the gossip. She knew Hanako was the original betrothed, and the whole romantic runaway situation. Hanako had barely been on Sugi's radar at the time, but gossip like that gets around.

But why would Hanako lie about her relationship with Chizu?

-0-

Sasuke scowls deeply at Naruto as the younger ninja pouts, looking upset as he tries to make sense of their homework.

"Th-three hun-undred," Naruto begins to read it out loud, his voice stuttering and slow and Sasuke wants to scream because how stupid is this kid? How stupid is he that he can't…

"…Can't you read?" Sasuke demands, a sudden thought coming into his head. He's never seen Naruto really read anything but the menu at that ramen place near Masumi's work place.

From the sudden rush of colour on the other boy's face, Sasuke knows he hit the target.

"Jus' 'cause-" begins the boy, looking angry and embaressed. A flop coming from the window made him stop, both boys turning to see Masumi had come through, only to flop onto the floor with a groan.

"…Masumi-nee?" Sasuke calls out. She raises her head, looking utterly exhausted.

"S'suk-kun. Na'to-kun." She mutters. Pushing herself up, she stumbles to them, resting her hands on their heads, a comical sight. With her towering form, crumpled half over to look at the papers on the coffee table. "G'd. H'mew'rk." She says, garbbled as she moves away from them, shuffling to her kitchen.

"Maybe ya shoul' sleep?" Naruto offers, confused. Masumi grunts in answer, pulling out her tea supplies in answer. "Does she…" Naruto begins but Sasuke shakes her head.

"No, but I remember that…" his breath hitches and he closes his eyes in pain for a second.

Naruto, surprisingly, doesn't make to much motion about it. Instead he lets Sasuke work through it.

"…some cousins on cases acted like that sometimes." He finally says. "They can get scary if not handled right, so let's leave her for a bit… and can't you read?" Naruto blushes again and Sasuke frowns. "Why not?"

"No one ta teach me. No one wants ta." Naruto mutters in answer. Sasuke, in response, moves over to point at a word on their homework.

"That says kunoichi." Naruto stops and stares, before a grin spreads over his face, and he turns eagerly to his new lesson.

It's peaceful until a shout from the door causes Masumi to snarl- her tea wasn't done- and grab a handful of senbon.

Sasuke, having seen this many times, decides to save him and Naruto, shoving him down as Masumi runs and jumps over them, ripping the door open to throw a handful of senbon at whoever was yelling outside.

"Ah! Chano-san! I am most sorry for disturbing you-" Sasuke makes a face. How can it sound like a normal speaking voice when it was being shouted?

"LOWER YOUR FUCKING VOICE!" Masumi roars.

"Sorry!" The other speaker said. Sasuke remembers his neighbour and can't work up any surprise as the two talk in the hallway. Masumi comes back in with a box, frowning.

"It's from my sister." She mutters, placing it on the counter as she moves to pour her hot water into a teapot where she had put her tea leaves. "Snacks or something."

"Tha's nice." Naruto says, blinking. Masumi grunts, waving a hand.

"Go back to the lesson. I've got paperwork, so I'll join soon." Masumi tells them. Sasuke obeys, turning back to teaching Naruto as his guardian gets her tea and act together, waking up as she drinks the cup of tea in her hand.

"…Wait, you guys want any tea? There's hot water for some more." Masumi suddenly calls over startling them. "I can't really offer you mine."

"Why not?" Naruto asks, and even Sasuke is curious.

"It's the blend of my clan's tea that keeps people awake longer. For me, I burn through it in a day." Masumi tells them, pulling out tea for them. Sasuke doesn't really remember drinking as much tea as he does now, with Masumi insisting on it at every meal or even during study sessions. He wonders at times, at the sublties she talks about, but hesitates in asking.

The Uchiha had their own secrects shared with no one. He doesn't want to insult the Chano clan by asking.

"It has a fairly high amount of caffine. I further doctored it though for myself with my chakra network being unique- I doubled the amount." Masumi continues, placing down two cups of tea for the both of them, a nice green tea she often gave Sasuke when he was studying. "You two are to young to have my version, and might never be able to have it unless you have a fair amount of chakra to burn through it. And the civilian version… well it might not kill you but it's not good for kids either."

Sitting down, Masumi turns to her paperwork as Sasuke and Naruto trade looks.

Sasuke, for the first time since the massacre, feels a sense of odd glee. It's the sense of glee from a plan coming together.

They will get to try some of that tea. It's a promise.

Masumi smirks behind her cup at the looks.

Looks like the Chano tradition of attempting to sneak the tea was occurring. Masumi muses to herself as she begins her work.

Well, at least it would be amusing while she tried to solve this case.

* * *

Sorry for the wait everyone- case of writers block for Naruto, school and my job took over. Started a new one working as a security guard, so it should be fun.

I love One and Two- they're a pair of OCs I have pretty much written into any fandom. KHR? Yep, information brokers. Dragon Age? Elven twins who run another information broker operation.

Mass Effect? Agents of the Shadow Broker.

Anyway, One and Two (Ichiro and Eiji) will appear from time to time here, and are slated to be in another story of mine as larger characters.

Also, Masumi has no idea what she's getting into with dangling the tea in front of those two. Seriously no clue.

Review please!


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